Memory Sea
by Rainbowkittyblossomwings
Summary: Two teens with two very different stories start their adventure. Natsumi wants to reclaim her honor and become the best Pirate Lord in the ocean. Fuyuki just wants to go home because he's found himself in a weird alternate universe with pirates. Will their paths cross? Will either of them make it to their goal? Pirate AU.
1. Natsumi-Journey Begin

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Woot another AU. I was going to make the AU about Fuyuki, but my sister wanted me to start off with Natsumi because of a spoof of those stories where 'Natsumi gets captured by Keron, Giroro saves her or she is sold to him' either or. (An au admittedly that I too had plans for, but scrapped.)**

 **So in the beginning it will be alternate chapters between Natsumi and Fuyuki.**

* * *

The air was chilly and splashed Natsumi's face. Usually she would be pleased by the flavor of the air, the smell, the view, but instead it felt foreboding and caustic. She wore a frown on her face.

"Prisoner 723, please step forward." Her kidnappers were much smaller than her. They shouldn't have been dangerous. They came up to the size of her knee, the frog-like people called Keronians. Yet they had managed to capture her. The'd stripped everything away from her - her friends, her possessions... everything. Even the clothes on her back they had replaced with a potato sack full of holes. They didn't really understand the concept of clothing.

"Never," Natsumi spat. The Keronian in front of her grabbed the chain that linked her hands and was tied to her neck. It made a clacking sound as he rattled it and he pulled it down, cutting off her air.

"You might have been a strong soldier once, but now you are mine," the Keronian told her. "And you will learn to be polite. You won't be in my company for long, but I hope to make a fortune off a pretty girl like you. Some sick freaks are into that, after all."

He let go of Natsumi's chain and she fell backward onto the ground, coughing. She wished she could reach up and take the chain off her neck off, but she could not.

"Do you understand, 723?" the Keronian asked.

"Crystal clear," Natsumi grumbled.

The Keronian slapped her now that she was on the ground. "I didn't tell you you could speak," he hissed. He glared at Natsumi. When he was sure she had learned her lesson, he walked away to deal with other prisoners.

She glanced around, rubbing the bruise on her face. She wouldn't cry. She was a warrior. And even when she had her freedom, her dignity stripped away, she would remain fearless.

 _I'm tough. I'll survive,_ she told herself, picking herself up. But there was worse things these Keronians could do to her than kill her. She knew that.

She was on a slave ship. Many humans like her were being shipped off to Keronians. Some for hard labor, and others for other purposes... Those other purposes she didn't much like to think about, but she could only figure out what the Keronians were implying when they said they had chosen to let her live because she was pretty.

All the other prisoners seemed to look at her to remain tough. So she always was quiet and defiant. But secretly, she was scared.

She was human. Something these Keronians who were at odds with her people were not. And humans had emotions besides pure evil - they had fear, ambitions, sadness, happiness...

Deep down she wasn't the fearless person like she pretended to be. And what she was about to face was something to be afraid of.

"You know, it sometimes helps to be less defiant. Then they treat you better," some prisoners advised Natsumi, huddling together for warmth.

She didn't much talk to the other prisoners. If those Keronians even once thought she cared for someone, they'd be killed. That was what happened to Yayoi and Satsuki, after all.

They hadn't made the cut for being pretty enough to live. And they had been punished and killed for it.

"Thanks for the advice," she said, "but I think I'll keep on fighting to my dying breath. I'll never give in to those frogs."

"I pray for your safety," the prisoner told her. Natsumi turned away, ending the conversation there. She glanced out a window.

The prisoners were at one of the lower levels of the ship, so she could see a little bit of the outside. Not like there was anything interesting out there, let alone anything that could aid her in escape. If she did manage to get off the ship, where would she go? There wasn't any land for miles.

She'd just die. And it would be a pointless death.

The door opened to their prison room. Natsumi saw prisoners shift around her to avoid the Keronians' gaze.

Natsumi didn't back down. She glared at them. Worst-case scenario, they would punish her, picking on her out of all the humans. She was stronger than the rest. She might be able to take it.

"Prisoner 723, there was a report on your file for disobedience." A Keronian stepped to the front. "It's not enough for you to just be a pretty face; we need you to be obedient, too. The highest bidder will be your new master and we're hoping to get a lot of money for you."

"I hope you guys don't make a single coin off me," Natsumi snarked, standing up abruptly. It hurt her neck but she did so anyway, standing over the tiny creatures.

"Maybe we can sell you to a sicko who likes his girls _dead_. Then he wouldn't be worried about your obedience - "

Natsumi kicked the Keronian in the face. At least she still had her legs.

The Keronian growled at the footprint on his face. "She's done. Bring her to the other room for punishment. Maybe that will teach her a lesson on defiling my face."

"Yes, sir." The Keronians saluted and dragged Natsumi away by her chains. The human who had told her they'd be praying for her looked away, avoiding Natsumi's gaze.

Natsumi wanted to be proud that she had riled them up, but she was afraid. What punishment awaited her?

* * *

They tied her facing toward a beam on the ship, smashing her face into the cold metal of some of the screws. She tried to breathe, but coughed as something hit her back. She could feel blood trickle down. She'd been whipped.

"We're going to do something so terrible to you that you won't ever speak back. You'll learn your lesson," they growled.

Natsumi gritted her teeth. So it was something vile that she was in for. They latched her feet into chains.

Natsumi didn't believing in praying to the gods, but her faith in just her inner strength began to falter as the Keronians laughed around her.

 _Please..._ was her only prayer.

As soon as she had closed her eyes and uttered it, the ship shook. Her cuffs around the beam kept her from falling to the side, but the Keronians slid on the ground.

The door flew open. "All battle stations, we're being attacked - !" As soon as the messenger had spoken, his words ended with the sound of gunfire.

The four Keronians surrounding Natsumi screamed. All Natsumi could hear was the sound of someone stepping over the body.

"Hello." A deep voice said. She heard a reloading of a gun. "Good-bye."

The gun fired four times, but she wasn't hit once. She heard the sound of the Keronians falling around her.

Was she saved? Who had come for her?

"You're safe now. Let me get those chains for you." Tiny feet pattered on the floor and she heard her chains on her feet unlocking and the ones tethering her to the beam. Natsumi turned around to see her savior.

"Sorry, I don't know where the key is for the handcuffs you wear." She had assumed she'd see a fellow human standing before her, but instead it was someone just like her kidnappers - a vile Keronians. He was red with a skull insignia and a belt. There was a scar across his face.

Natsumi didn't answer him. She didn't have any words to exchange with a terrible Keronian.

"I've liberated the other prisoners. They were a whole lot less guarded. They're out at the top of the ship... When I told them where the weapons were kept, their hope was restored," the Keronian explained. "But I won't leave you alone undefended. Without your hands, your defenseless. So let's get the key."

Natsumi tried not to grit her teeth. She had been trying to get the prisoners to start a revolt for a while, but they never had the confidence. Who did this guy think he was, stealing her thunder?

She didn't need someone of the same race of the people who imprisoned her to help her. _Let me show you how freakin' defenseless I am without my hands..._ But Natsumi decided against beating him up - for now.

"Don't talk much, do you? That's all right. I'm sure these slave ships are tough," said the red Keronian. "Name's Giroro. And I promise to help you."

 _I do talk. Just not to the likes of you,_ Natsumi thought to herself. But she followed him out the door and up to the top of the ship.

As soon as she was out in the open air, she felt better. The sea breeze always excited her, even if she was on the terrible ship. She noticed another ship next to the slave ship, probably the source of the shaking when the ships had collided.

Blood was all over the ship's floor. People's swords clashed as slaves fought for their freedom.

Giroro looked around for a moment.

 _Did he forget looking for my key?_ Natsumi shoved her cuffs into his face. Giroro looked up at them. The girl in front of him was still bleeding from her lashing. She had been in a very scary position, yet she remained strong and tough.

"The keys are usually stored in the captain's quarters." He reloaded his revolver and pointed. "Over there."

 _I know where the captain's quarters are, you idiot._ She didn't care how nice this guy seemed to appear. He must have had an ulterior motive of what he was doing. Or...

 _Awww... does the baby want to be some sort of hero? HA! Doesn't make up for the fact that he's probably done this only for his own reputation. And his entire race is awful._ Natsumi ran through the melee, dodging swords and spinning out of danger.

Giroro's jaw opened in surprise at all her fluid movements. This Pekoponian was good in the face of danger.

He followed her, trying to be just as quick as she kicked down the door to the captain's quarters.

"The crew I brought will fight with your people. They were mercenaries for hire. I offered them this ship that we took and the non-living cargo for their help," Giroro explained. "They're a tough lot. Made sure of it myself."

Natsumi rolled her eyes. She didn't care about his stupid plan. She tried to grab at the drawers. looking for a key. It was difficult without being able to reach too far because of the chain linking her cuffs to her neck.

Giroro helped, finding many keys and trying them in her lock. Eventually, he found the one they needed and Natsumi's chains fell to the ground. She smiled as she rubbed her wrists and her neck.

 _That feels better. Now I can be at my best_. "What do you plan to do with the living cargo - the slaves?" she finally asked Giroro.

Again, Giroro was surprised when hearing her talk. He'd thought she didn't like talking, not that just didn't have anything to say till now. She was an interesting one. He liked her. She would have made a fine comrade aboard his ship.

 _Heh. That's what my job is for. It would have been a real travesty if the world lost a warrior like her,_ he thought. True strength was showing strength in danger, being able to think amidst chaos. He hoped he was appearing impressive enough to earn her respect.

"The slaves will be offered jobs aboard my ship," said Giroro. "After all, it's unlikely they have any homes to return to.

Natsumi glared. She might not have had a home or friends to return to, but who was to say some of these people hadn't been kidnapped?

"They can fight with me, or I'll let them off at the nearest dock." Giroro answered. "I came to free them. I hate slave ships. Don't worry. There's no reason to be scared. You're safe now."

Natsumi wanted to gag. _It couldn't be any more obvious that he has his own agenda. The person he's trying to pretend to be don't exist in this world._ Natsumi picked up a revolver lying around.

"Fine. Let's kill some frogs then," she growled. His mercenaries couldn't claim the ship until all the soldiers on it were dead - and she had a captain to kill.

Giroro smiled. "Familiar with a gun? Admirable."

 _Obviously I'm familiar_ with a gun, she debated telling him. She wasn't stupid.

She walked out of the captain's quarters with him to the bloodshed.

And Giroro smiled. It was time to fight.

* * *

Holding onto some ropes, it was easy to balance herself to shoot. Giroro was pretty good with his gun, she couldn't deny that. He was skilled, perhaps more skilled than her with aim and rapid fire, but she had more actual physical prowess than him.

If someone got close, she didn't need to rely on a gun. She could just punch them off the ship into the water below. All she needed was her hands.

"Impressive," Giroro told her. "You're pretty good."

Natsumi rolled her eyes for the fiftieth time that day. She didn't need to talk to him. It would waste valuable killing time. When she was sure all the Keronians aboard except him were dead, she stopped her fighting.

"Everybody onto my ship!" A plank had connected the two ships so people could board it. The slaves followed Natsumi and Giroro onto the ship, and Giroro waved to the mercenaries.

He pulled the board off and sailed the ship a ways away. "As you know, Pekoponians, you are now free. I did not intend to capture you, though. You have a choice: you can work for me, or I could drop you off at the nearest port. The choice is yours," he spoke to the former prisoners. "If you decide to stay on my ship, however, there are some rules you have to follow. I'm the captain, of course, and so you must heed my orders..."

Natsumi looked around the ship. Something about it was familiar... nostalgic. Like something she could never forget.

She finally realized what it was. The name of the ship was inscribed in its side - "Summer."

Eyes wide, she walked up to Giroro as he talked.

"And if you follow those rules, you can comfortable live on my ship - " He couldn't finish because Natsumi punched him in the face, causing him to fly across the bridge.

The floor was sturdy, so the planks didn't pull up from the full force of the punch. Sadly the ship was used to people being punched across it.

Giroro groaned and rubbed his cheek. "Wh-what...? What the heck?" He glared at her. "I saved you! What was that for?"

Natsumi stepped over to him, cracking her knuckles. If he wanted a round two, she would give it to him.

Giroro shivered from the glare. She was a frightening one, this Pekoponian.

"This isn't your ship. It's _mine,_ " she told him.

Giroro narrowed his eyes. "What? But I bought this fairly recently."

Natsumi glowered. There was no use negotiating with him. This ship was hers and always would be.

She turned to the former slaves. "Don't listen to him, my fellow humans. We don't know his intentions. But I can make his offer better. This ship is mine, and if you want a job I can give it to you. Who would want to work for this Keronian when you could work for me and become rich and famous?"

The slaves started chattering happily. That sounded good. And they knew and trusted Natsumi. She had always been tough. They didn't want to get on her bad side, either. They smiled and pledged their loyalty to her.

"Wh-what? Wait, what's going on?" Giroro was totally confused. Natsumi just crossed her arms and stepped on him.

"You may have hired mercenaries and thought your plan through, but you don't even know you just rescued a pirate. Ever heard the name Natsumi Hinata?"

Giroro gasped. "One of the famed three pirate lords of the ocean?"

"The same. And this ship, this crew, it's mine, Giroro." She smirked. "Bet you regret being a pretentious rescuer now."

Giroro just looked shocked. He had honestly tried to do good, and this was what happened.

 _I can't believe she was a pirate._ Pirates were evil. The lowest of scum. If he had known... Well, he would have shot her with the other Keronians. But instead he had aided her.

He had made a mistake. And he regretted it. Now Natsumi was in control, and he was a pirate's prisoner.

* * *

 **It's a pirate AU btw. Based on episode 298 where Fuyuki goes to all those other dimensions and there's one where Saburo and Kululu are pirates. So I was like "Hmmm...There's a canon pirate AU in the anime. Better make a fanfiction based on that." But I joked about it cuz I know nothing about pirates, but people were like "YEAH! Write a pirate AU"and well ...Here I am. Writing a pirate AU.**

 **Only canon characters in this chapter were Natsumi and Giroro though. Sorry.**

 **Please review!**


	2. Fuyuki-Journey Begin

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **As stated before this episode is based on 298 of the anime. You can quickly look it up if you want but the segment with the pirate AU is probably less than a minute long.**

 **I wanted this story to originally be about canon world Fuyuki in the pirate AU world, but then my sister wanted Natsumi to be the main character so now it alternates. So Fuyuki's chapters should be more slowly getting into the Pirate AU stuff and Natsumi's should be full immersion.**

 **Unfortunately since this was based on a canon episode it means that the story is going to revolve a bit around Saburo, for a while He's going to be a main character. If you like Saburo this is good news for you and I will try my best to make him good as an apology for all the mean things he's done in my other fics.**

 **If you don't like Saburo, then I am also sorry. He's got to be part of the story. But I also am not that much of a fan of it.**

* * *

Fuyuki didn't know where he was. The sky was blank and shades of gray like some sort of gloomy canvas. The sea and waves were below him. He was standing on it as waves splashed on various rocks. It was like he was standing on glass so he wouldn't fall into the water.

But nothing was wet. There was a figure in front of him; but the face, the body - it was all blurry. Except for the hand reaching out to him and the lips, Fuyuki couldn't see much of it. It was like there was a black censor bar covering the eyes.

What was truly odd was that the hand that reached out for him was clearly his own. He knew its shape, its feel. And the lips that moved, the sound of the voice that spoke out. It was Fuyuki's.

The blurry, glitching out figure was Fuyuki, like a mirror. He couldn't tell if the figure was wearing the same clothes as him. It didn't matter, what mattered was Fuyuki was in front of himself.

The lips of the other him started moving. "Fuyuki," his other half called out. "You have come for me."

"What do you need from me? What is it you want?" Fuyuki asked sharply. He didn't understand why, night after night, he saw this figure.

The other Fuyuki turned away and gazed at the ocean below. "The sea is not how it is supposed to be. It's not right. You're the only one who can help it, Fuyuki. 1800, Southeast, Neumu." A weird jumble of words ended the sentence.

Fuyuki looked confused. Why him? He couldn't even swim. He didn't want any part of the sea. He was about to tell the figure that deep space was more of his thing, but a loud blaring sound like a fog horn was in his ear.

And the figure disappeared.

* * *

Fuyuki awoke from the sound of the alarm clock. He'd been having that same dream for many nights in a row.

"Better write this in my dream journal." He jotted it down. He knew the mysterious and unknown was linked to dreaming, but he didn't know what this dream meant.

"Perhaps it's a prophecy!" His eyes shone. But what did it mean, the sea wasn't how it was supposed to be? And why was he the only one who could fix this? What did it all mean?

He spent all of the morning pondering about a dream that Natsumi had told him probably was normal to have.

"Master Fuyuki..." Keroro looked at him. "Why aren't you at school? Master Natsumi left half an hour ago."

Fuyuki slapped his head. He was late! He had been so busy thinking about his dream that he hadn't gone to school. He ran out of the house, waving to Keroro. "Take care, Sarge!"

* * *

He ran to school, but his mind kept going back to his dream. This had been going on for a while. What did it mean?

"1800, Southeast, Neumu," he recalled. What did those words mean? He just sort of walked around, until he looked up at a green street sign. The exact words he had been repeating were on it.

"It... It was a street name," he realized. He wasn't anywhere near school. He had gotten so distracted. He looked down the street, searching for whatever had been calling to him. He found a tight alleyway, and - being a very curious person - he went down it.

 _I'm sure the answers I seek will be here,_ he thought to himself as he slid down the alleyway. For some reason, the place was familiar.

 _I followed Saburo here once!_ he remembered. He had gone into some sort of portal where he'd switched between dimensions.

And just like last time, there was a portal, but a much different one. This one looked more like a doorway surrounded by bricks. The pool in it rippled. And it seemed to call Fuyuki's name.

Fuyuki shook his head. He remembered what had happened the last time he went into a portal. And he didn't know how near Saburo was to save him. But the rippling was so transfixing, so hypnotizing... He stared deeply into it, wobbling a bit. He was losing his balance.

And before he could grab onto something, he had fallen in. "AHH!" His screams were cut off as he was swallowed up, the end of the portal vanishing behind him.

* * *

"Fuyuki!" He heard Saburo's voice call for him, but it was too late. The portal had closed. Had Saburo seen where he had gone?

 _Oh no! I fell in!_ Fuyuki was sitting on a pile of treasure. He wasn't looking forward to going between dimensions.

But for some reason, there was no feeling of dimension-slipping. Where he was didn't feel like a dream. He could feel the gold coins under him as he played a bit with them. They were as real as he was. And he didn't feel quite as funny about being somewhere else.

Just as last time, he saw Saburo and Kululu sitting on a chair in front of him. Saburo had a fancy hat on with a feather and huge extravagant cape. He was dressed mostly in black with a dagger by his side. Fuyuki knew this version of Saburo, and he was not friendly.

Kululu sat by his side, playing with some coins. He looked more like the Kululu he knew, with a bad fashion sense. He wore tiny little shorts and an orange shirt with the words 966 on them. Orange and black, just like Halloween. For some reason he had an eye patch over his glasses, something counter-intuitive, and his hat had little antennae.

"So you're back. How did you get into our treasure trove?" Saburo drew his dagger and leaned forward to Fuyuki.

Fuyuki started shaking. This Saburo and Kululu were pirates - that much he could assume, based on the eyepatch and the gold.

He regretting coming here. He waited to shift to a new dimension, but nothing happened. _Saburo, come save me!_ But no Saburo came. Fuyuki's eyes started watering as he realized he might be stuck there and was currently being threatened.

"This brat decided to break into our trove? Ku. Let's kill him." Kululu crossed his arms.

"Saburo! Come and help me!" Fuyuki wailed. He wanted to say he came in peace, but they were already threatening him. Kululu was approaching him with the intention to kill. He had this weird device that looked like a mixer that Fuyuki just assumed would be used on his insides.

"Wait, Kululu, stop," Saburo finally decided, leaning forward to Fuyuki. He tilted the boy's chin up and looked at him for a moment. Pathetic, all those tears. "He's come to us before, and I want to know how he got to our secret treasure. And how does he know me?"

"Tch. I could use one of my machines to probe his memories. That would be fun. No interrogation necessary!" Kululu said.

Saburo gave him a glare. "For the last time, we're not killing everyone we come across. We do important things. Like getting rich and famous and striking fear into people's hearts."

Kululu shrugged. "Whatever. Ku, ku, ku."

Fuyuki looked between them. Was this version of Saburo actually nice? Was he going to save him? "Where am I?"

"See? He's no harm. He doesn't even know where he is. A true idiot," Saburo noted.

"Just get this interrogation over with," said Kululu.

Saburo nodded and glanced at Fuyuki. "Well?" he asked. "Explain. Or I'll let him tear out your guts."

Saburo looked commanding. It frightened Fuyuki. But this Saburo was filled with mystery.

"Um... uhhh... I was going to school, and I came here..." Fuyuki started.

Saburo thrust his fist against the wall. "Explain _better!_ "

"Ku. And faster," Kululu agreed.

Fuyuki looked nervous. "I come from a different dimension!" He'd never had a conversation this long with anyone from another dimension. "Probably. That's what Saburo told me. Saburo and I are friends there. I thought this was his portal that I wandered through to get to this place, but... It was calling to me. It feels different."

"Ku. Now can I kill him? He explained. And he gave us bullshit." Kululu got out his mixer again and Fuyuki winced. Saburo put his hand in front of his friend.

"He speaks the truth, though. There are other dimensions besides our own. It's a treat that I get to teach you something," Saburo grinned proudly.

Kululu frowned. "I'm a surgeon, not some nerd who studies alternate dimensions," he said. "Ku, ku, ku. Why do you believe him so readily?"

"Because this other Saburo he talks about I've met. In my dreams, at least. He's not nearly as successful as me, but he's definitely me," he said. "He visits my mind from time to time. I suppose he can travel easier through dimensions than the other Saburos."

Fuyuki breathed a sigh of relief. "So you believe me?"

"Guess this means he didn't find our secret island," Saburo muttered to himself. "But this is strange. The last time you visited here, the other me said he closed all portals for good between our worlds so that you couldn't be put in danger. You shouldn't have been able to come here."

Fuyuki looked worried. If all the portals were closed, did that mean the portal home was as well?

"So... are you saying - "

"You're stuck, bub. Ku, ku, ku!" Kululu laughed. Fuyuki cried harder.

"Get up," Saburo hissed. "I don't want you getting your tears on our hard-earned treasure."

Fuyuki frowned. Sometimes Saburo was mean, and sometimes he was nice. What was with him? "C-can you help me get home?"

Saburo crossed his arms. "What makes you think I can even _get_ you home?"

"If one Saburo was able to save me last time, another one should be able to figure something out," he replied.

Saburo shrugged. "I do have a reputation to uphold. But I've got more important things to do." Fuyuki wasn't getting off his treasure, so he pulled at the boy's arm to help him up.

Fuyuki shivered, still frightened of this new world. "Up the ladder," Saburo ordered, pointing to a ladder.

"A-all right," Fuyuki told him. "Why?"

"From now on you'll be following my orders. Infiltrating a pirate's lair is a serious crime, but I won't kill you. I just came here to deposit my gold. I need to get back to the ship," Saburo told him.

Fuyuki nodded and scurried up the ladder, trying to pull himself up since he was a big wealking.

"Ku, ku, ku. He's weaker than me!" Kululu mocked. Fuyuki frowned. Jerk in every world, he supposed.

He saw the sunlight and palm trees as he got onto a beach. "It's an island!" he realized.

"Way to state the obvious," Kululu groaned.

"My island of treasure. Nobody's infiltrated, except you now. And that is something I need to take very seriously," Saburo told him, putting a knife to his back. "Get aboard the ship."

Fuyuki walked up a ramp. He couldn't see anything under him as he walked up, but when Saburo shook his necklace around his neck, the ramp appeared.

The ship had been invisible moments ago. Only now could he see it.

Fuyuki was frightened. Was he being kidnapped, or helped? Saburo seemed to be taking him very seriously, but Kululu just seemed to be making a joke out of it.

When they were on board the ship, Saburo handed him a mop. "You work hard enough and I'll try to get you home when it suits me," he said to him. "But I think it would benefit us both if you stayed with me now that you've seen my island. And you have no one to take care of you in this world, so I suppose the job falls to me. But nobody gets things here for free."

Fuyuki frowned. Even school was better than manual labor and chores. He regretted coming here, but it wasn't like he'd had a choice in the matter, so he started mopping.

 _At least he's willing to believe me._ He supposed he could be thankful of that. They departed the secret treasure island.

"So... you're a pirate?" Fuyuki asked. He was trying to figure out what kind of dimension he was in. Not anything cool and occult-related. Just dumb pirate stuff.

"You're pitiful. You haven't even picked up on that? Your curiosity that brought you here really will get you killed," said Saburo. "Yes, I'm a pirate. Didn't you see my treasure island? My huge pirate ship? The talisman with a skull around my neck?" He tapped it. "I'm a Pirate. And the captain of the ship, the Phantom."

"So, uh... do you steal from people?" Fuyuki asked.

Saburo rubbed his temples.

"Ku, ku, ku! You sure you don't want to kill him?" Kululu asked again.

"Yes, I do steal from people," Saburo answered. "I'm known to the seas as one of the three most feared Pirates in the oceans. One of the three Pirate Lords."

"Ku. That's why we can't pay attention to your little 'lost from home' issue. We've got important things to do - "

"Like becoming the number one Pirate Lord in the sea. There shouldn't be two others. At the moment, we're evenly matched, but I'll beat them," Saburo vowed, finishing Kululu's sentence.

Kululu grinned. "We've made a pledge as pirates. The phantom will be the boat to rule the seas, with Saburo as its captain and me exploiting him for financial gain. Ku, ku, ku."

"Kululu! Harsh," Saburo teased. He and Kululu seemed just as close, if not closer than in the previous world. Fuyuki smiled. At least one thing hadn't changed. And seeing them so friendly, well, it made it look like both of them had hearts.

Fuyuki mopped the floor as Saburo and Kululu kept talking to one another. He tried to think about the alternate dimension that he had found himself in.

 _This certainly doesn't look like a ship from the modern world,_ he noted. Did that mean aliens and planets weren't a thing? He knew Keronians and humans lived peacefully together, just like Saburo and Kululu were doing. So this was a Keronian-safe world.

He had never once considered that Saburo had talked to his other self, but it made sense. And he was glad of it in the long run. Saburo seemed to like himself, and because of that, he trusted Fuyuki.

 _So you can talk to another version of yourself._ Fuyuki thought of the Fuyuki he had seen in the dream. Was that Fuyuki the one who had called to him, begging him to come to the dimension? Telling him only he could help the danger that was on the sea?

He didn't know if he wanted to help. He wanted to be at home, where it was safe. This other Fuyuki might have needed him, might have called to him, and he wanted to be kind and help, but Saburo and Kululu scared him.

 _I'll try to do as you said in your prophecy, other me,_ Fuyuki thought to himself.

"One thing I forgot to tell you, kid." Saburo stopped Fuyuki's thoughts.

"If you steal from us," said Kululu, "even a _single_ piece of gold, you're dead. Ku ku ku. We don't care. We're pirates."

Fuyuki grimaced.

"And keep washing those floors. I want to see my face in them!" Kululu barked.

"Hey, don't be too harsh on the, kid." Saburo felt kind of bad. "What's your name, anyway, kid?"

"Fuyuki," Fuyuki answered. He felt a little weird that this Saburo and Kululu hadn't encountered another version of him. They didn't even know his name. It was kind of sad that he wasn't friends with Saburo in this world. Maybe only one friendship could be maintained and the world had chosen Kululu and Saburo.

"Well, then, Fuyuki." Saburo's voice was polite, soothing. "Please wash those floors so my accomplice can see himself in it."

Fuyuki sighed. "Yes, sir." This was his life now.

At least he didn't have math homework. He continued washing and Saburo and Kululu walked away from him to talk about more important, pirate-related things.

He looked into the ground, thinking of the friends he'd left behind - Keroro, his sister, Momoka. He already missed them and he hadn't even been here an hour.

Keroro his best friend, always fun-loving in any situation... If he were here, he'd know how to deal with Kululu. He'd negotiate with them. Or, more likely, he'd also get captured. Either way, they'd be together.

Natsumi, if she were here, she'd protect him. And she wouldn't stop at anything to get home. Or she'd flirt with Saburo. Either was likely but he liked to think he'd be her first priority.

And Momoka... Well, he just wanted her there. He didn't want to leave her at school alone. She'd be missing him the entire day at the occult club. Just her company with him would be enough.

But nobody was there with him. He was the only one from his dimension. And he felt alone.

* * *

 **Got to give Kululu more things to do...But I mean with me writing it's probably inevitable that he'll take over this story.**

 **There are three Pirate Lords, all equal in ruling the sea. One of them is Natsumi as mentioned previously, another is Saburo and the third is ? You can guess.**

 **Please review.**


	3. Imprisonment

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Have another chapter following Natsumi. Just a bunch of Gironatsu, sorry.**

 **Sorry about the title, memory Sea. I was just mashing words.**

* * *

Giroro hissed as he was shackled to the deck. Natsumi sat in front of him in a throne that had been melded to the ground.

She looked divine, commanding, terrifying - like a warrior.

 _Who knew that one of the Pirate Lords of the sea was that quiet girl I mistakenly saved that I thought didn't like talking?_ Giroro thought to himself. He loved a good battle, but his butt had been sorely kicked. He was out-matched. But that wouldn't let him back down. Pirates were the scavengers of the sea. He may have hated enslavers, but pirates were down-right evil. They were his sworn enemy and as a proud Keronian he would never give in to them.

He tried to shake off his chains and look up at Natsumi in defiance. How the tables had turned! Just that morning she had been chained and in the Keronians' control, but now she was the one on top and he was the prisoner.

Natsumi looked around at her new crew. "You are all free. Free to even destroy your tormentors, if you wish. But if you wish to destroy them, I can help you. I can make you strong." She held her chin high. "You will be my crew. Each of you have a story to tell on how you got imprisoned. You're all strong to have lived through that. And you will continue being strong. If you work for me you'll also get a cut of the gold." She winked.

Her new crew cheered. Giroro just rolled his eyes. They had been good people, but now they were pirates. He had caused this.

 _This is why people aren't heroes. Because their heroic actions can cause things like this,_ he reminded himself.

Natsumi smiled at her new crew and turned back to Giroro, giving an annoyed sigh. She didn't like him in the least bit. "Thank you for retrieving my ship," she spoke.

Giroro growled. If he hated anything more than being captured, it was looking like an accomplice to her. "I didn't help you get this thing back!"

"Were you one of the Keronians on the raid that took this ship from me when I was taken?" she hissed, ignoring his comment.

Giroro paused. Of course it would look like he was part of the people who had given her to the slave ship. He had some of the spoils from her defeat, after all. Maybe that was why she hated him. "No," he said honestly, "I'm not part of anything that involves selling people."

"Then how did you get my ship? I think somebody might be lying!"

Giroro looked downward. "I bought it at the market. I was drawn to this ship. It reminded me of the summer... I suppose that makes sense, seeing as that's its name."

Natsumi sat back in her chair. So Giroro was just an ignorant sap. He hadn't been part of the people who had wronged her. She tapped her fingers on the side of her chair, wondering what to do with him, if that was the case.

Giroro looked up at her. As he watched her tap her fingers, deep in thought, he felt conflicted. He was frightened, of course he was, only an idiot wouldn't be when his weapons had been taken away and he was captured, but also intrigued. He admired Natsumi's strength, her warrior spirit, her toughness. He had even thought she was a tiny bit cool during battle. But she was a pirate, an honorable warrior like him was something she wasn't at all.

And pirates, well, they were his sworn enemy. So he shoved his fear and admiration down low and started yelling.

"You won't be able to do anything you plan to do to me. You'll soon be captured again. Pirates deserve to be captured. They're the scourge of the sea. A disgusting black pit in what should be good," he growled. "No matter what you try to do to me, you'll always be my enemy. I'll fight you with every last fiber of my being, Pirate Captain whatever-your-name-was. You're nothing. You're just a greedy person who wants money."

"Natsumi. You'll call me by the name of captain Natsumi," she growled. Giroro's yelling was so typical for a helpless Keronian who'd just been captured. Keronians were so dedicated against piracy; it was almost hilarious to think she had captured someone who had tried to be so good, but had fallen and been beaten so hilariously. He was hers now and she was so much better than him.

"I don't care what your name is, Natsumi," he spat, accidentally taking her name to memory. "All I know is that I'm better than you. A better person. And you'll never change that. You are my enemy - "

"Oh, shut up. You were funny a second ago but now you're just annoying. Tons of people think that they're better than me." She let out a laugh. "But who's captured, huh? It's you."

Giroro frowned. "If you're so great, then... how did a famed Pirate Lord like yourself end up as a slave on a Keron ship?" His lips curled into a grin.

Natsumi frowned. She didn't like thinking about it. But he was right. She was a famed Pirate Lord, but she had been beaten.

* * *

They had planned to pillage the ship like any other. Her crew was excited to spot such a weak-looking thing. It looked like the poor ship was lost, sailing out into the middle of nowhere.

Natsumi pointed her ship in the direction of theirs, unaware that it was a mistake that would cost her entire crew their lives. She had smiled at them one last time before approaching it.

But it had been a trap. Usually, Natsumi was strong enough to just fight through traps, but she was inexperienced with the sort of technology the Keron army used.

In mere seconds after approaching the ship, the new submarines the Keron nation had created bubbled out of the sea like whales.

"Wh-what?" Natsumi was confused as they boarded her ship. She pulled out her sword, but torpedoes hit the bottom of her ship, shaking her legs. She tried to slice, to beat the Keronians, but the battle didn't last long.

And her entire crew was captured.

"Ha! You pirates are always so troublesome. Thinking you rule the seas," a Keronian hissed. "Our submarines will be the ones to rule, though." He smirked. "I always knew pekoponians were stupid." He used the name the Keronians called her species.

"S-submarine?" She had never heard such a word.

"Kill them all," the Keronian ordered. But he paused when he looked at Natsumi. "Not this one. This pretty-faced miss wants to be a Pirate Lord! She'll make a great prize. I've heard pink hair like hers is rare. And a bust like hers I've been told is appreciated." Natsumi would have slapped him for the comment, but she had been tied up.

She looked at Yayoi and Satsuki one last time before she was pulled away. Out of all of them, she was the only one who had survived.

Her ship, her crew, and even her dignity had been stripped away by the damn Keron Army.

Through her torture, she had been put through all sorts of degrading things, but she never gave in.

* * *

She didn't answer Giroro's question. It had been her fault for getting captured. But she was back on the sea now.

 _Even though he's captured, he hasn't backed down._ His hate ran thick for her, kind of how she hated Keronians. She could understand that and relate to it, but it wouldn't save his life.

"Keron will beat you again. They'll capture you. And they'll kill you. They'll have learned their lesson since the last time. The Keron navy will always beat pirates like you," he yelled, squirming.

"Only a Keronian like you would say that. You'd be oblivious to how terrible your navy is," Natsumi told him. How terrible they were towards human rights. Their techniques were actually pretty dangerous and tough.

"Our navy isn't terrible! I'm a warrior, and I'm proud to call myself a Keronian!" he retorted.

Natsumi chuckled. Well, that decided it. "Keron should go to hell," she laughed. "Make him walk the plank! He'll plunge to his death in the icy waters below!"

The crew cheered at her decision. They tied his hands to his back, pulled him off the ground, unchained him, set down the plank, and put a sword to his back encouragingly.

 _Ah. I'm... going to die. I don't even have a chance to fight against this!_ Giroro thought. He didn't want to die. He had more to do with his life, more to live for. His feet tip-toed along the plank, trying to take the smallest steps before he fell.

He turned to Natsumi, wondering if he could use her pride to bargain for his life. "You hate Keronians so much, but killing me won't do any good. You're in my debt, Natsumi," he told her. "And my death will just etch in your mind that you were saved by one of those Keronians you hate so much. Will your pride stand for that? Your life will only be here because _I_ saved you, a Keronian like me!" He tossed his head back and laughed.

This was the truth. Who knew what terrible things the four Keronians he had found with Natsumi would do to her. She would have been sold and auctioned away, and both of them knew that he had saved her life.

He knew her pride wouldn't stand for that. He hoped she had enough honor to realize that she couldn't lie to herself and she hadn't been all that strong, at least for a moment. He had saved her.

Natsumi swore under her breathe.

"Unlike you, a wicked pirate, I didn't save you for any reason. I did it because I'm an honest person who bought a boat instead of stealing it." He was still mad she had stolen his boat. Natsumi scoffed.

He was right. To her knowledge, he had just helped her out of the goodness of his heart. And although she _suspected_ it was for another reason, she had no proof yet. She pushed past her crew, grabbed his ropes, pulled him off the plank.

Giroro breathed a sigh of relief until she pulled out her gun.

"I'll kill you myself. It's less painful that way," she said, getting ready to shoot. "Because you're right. I _do_ owe you."

Giroro's eyes widened. _This wasn't what I wanted!_ Natsumi pointed the gun at his face, and he knew there was nothing else he could do. He had tried his hardest to bargain. "I always knew pirates have no honor."

Natsumi looked into his eyes deeply. She sighed and put her gun away. She couldn't do it. He was completely right. He might have been a jerk, but he had saved her life. "Ugh. You're right. You did save my life. And no matter how much I hate that, it'll always be true."

Giroro smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

"But I'm not letting you go free. You're still my prisoner," she said. "And we're still enemies. We always will be, since you're a Keronian who supports the navy and I'm a pirate who supports freedom. You'll remain on this ship." She tapped her gun at her side and put it away. She tried to think of a suitable job for him.

"Can I have my ship back?" Giroro asked at the wrong time and place, twiddling his fingers.

"No! It's my ship! I named it and I've been the captain for a long time. It'll never be yours again!" she shouted.

Giroro frowned.

"Actually, perhaps _prisoner_ isn't the right thing for you..." Natsumi thought to herself. The way she spat the word "prisoner" made Giroro think she was just changing his purpose in name only. He'd still be a prisoner, she was just mocking him. "After all, my _savior_ shouldn't be my prisoner, should he? You'll have a job like everyone else." She laughed. She had thought of a plan.

Giroro frowned deeply. Perhaps he had talked himself up too much. He had saved Natsumi in a way, but calling him her savior? And with such wretched sarcasm?

What did she have planned for him?

"You need a job... A purpose on my ship, a Pirate Lord's ship. But you shouldn't be a fighter, you're much too tough for that job. You'd fight back, and you are my enemy. Although still my _savior_." She laughed again as she said that word with a sickeningly sweet voice.

She was going to mock him with whatever new job she elected him. "I have the perfect job for you! Fitting of my _savior._ The savior of one of the three Pirate Lords." She giggled again.

"Just spit it out." Giroro rolled his eyes. Unfortunately, He was used to humiliation.

"Chief consort," she guffawed. "You will be my chief consort!"

Giroro's eyes widened in shock. That sort of humiliation he was _not_ used to! He turned red. Natsumi had tried to kill him just a few minutes ago. He was her sworn enemy. But now he was her consort!

 _Ah... I see what she's doing to humiliate me. Of course someone who hates pirates so much should be degraded in this way, with a title like that. She's one of the most famous people in the world, so eventually word will spread that I'm her consort. My life will be ruined... my reputation. Everything I stood for, it will all be stripped away. Because all I'll be is the chief consort to the Pirate Lord Natsumi._ It was a smart strategy, turning him into what he hated so much.

A pirate. And not just that, the chief consort of the ship's captain. If he was thinking differently, he would have admired the strategy, but right now, his face was just turning redder and redder at the thought of being a consort.

He couldn't deny that the Pirate Lord in front of him was quite beautiful, her long pink hair waving in the wind as she glared at him. But what kind of sicko could he be to sleep with the enemy? He hated everything she stood for and didn't want this, but oh geez at the same time she _was_ pretty good-looking...

He shook his head. His admiration for her had to stay in a tiny little place away from his morals. He was a warrior. He would not be lusting after a pirate, even if he was the chief consort.

"In name only, of course," Natsumi finished. "But your image throughout the countries and nations and seas from now on will be a consort to the number one Pirate Lord. Eventually, you'll be forced to accept piracy, because you'll have nothing else. I'll turn you into what you hate so much."

A shiver went up Giroro's spine. It was such a cruel but well-thought-out plan. She was going for a decisive victory over him, and although he wasn't too excited for all the humiliation he was going to go through, he did admire her plot.

 _Damn. Don't admire a Pirate Lord. She's good. She's already started turning me against what I stand for!_ Giroro reminded himself. It didn't matter if she was a warrior woman, she was still his enemy. And he was a proud Keron soldier.

But it was so smart... She had worked around the fact that she couldn't kill him because of the debt she owed him, and she'd still beaten him.

The crew laughed as he just stood there in shock. Nobody liked Keronians and it was nice to see one get what was coming for him.

* * *

As the chief consort, he actually got a pretty nice room on the ship. There was no way to escape it, since there were only open seas all around them. But he wasn't really imprisoned. He had been told to stay in his room, but he wasn't going to.

Although Natsumi was admirable, she was still evil. _The only way to free myself from this fate is to kill her before she tires of making fun of me and kills me first._ It was time to say good-bye to the Pirate Lord Natsumi.

He could be a tougher warrior. He swiped out a knife he always had hidden in his belt. Then he sneaked out of his room and over to hers. As her consort, their rooms were very closer together.

He turned the doorknob, trying to be as quiet as possible as he sneaked in. She had already started redecorating the room to reflect what it ocne had been - extravagant and luscious and filled with décor - fitting for a captain. His feet touched the soft carpet as he sneaked up to Natsumi's big large bed.

She didn't look as threatening in her sleep. Instead, she looked a rare amount of peaceful, not defiant. He climbed onto her bed and approached her, pulling the knife above her. One stab in her throat and it would be over. And he would be free.

She wasn't the nicest person. The world would be much better off if she was gone. He had saved her once, and now he had to right that decision.

He was just about to plunge the knife into her throat until she spoke.

"M-mommy..." she called out. Giroro was startled by the moment of weakness. Natsumi, even in chains and dressed in a potato sack, had never been weak. That was part of the reason it was easy to try to attack her in her sleep - people who were all strength might have been admirable, but they weren't human. Part of what came from true strength was overcoming weakness, at least that was what he believed. And Natsumi had no weakness, she was just strength.

"D-daddy..." she said now. She was shaking. It looked like she was having a nightmare. And Giroro didn't know what to do. He was startled at what he had thought was such a strong, evil, Pirate Lord calling out for her parents desperately. "B-brother..." she spoke. "D-don't go. Please... come back. I'm still here..." She let out a small sob as she clutched her blankets, sweating.

 _She's calling for her family... Her mother, father and brother..._ He knew the bond between siblings was strong. He himself had an older brother he thought about from time to time. He glanced at her bedside table and noticed a picture frame. He hadn't noticed it before when he had bought the ship, but the little girl in the grey picture bore a strong resemblance to Natsumi. She was much younger, maybe only five years old. An innocent kid. She didn't look anything like what he imagined a pirate. She was standing in front of an older, dark-haired woman and a light-haired man. She was holding the hand of a little kid with dark hair like the woman behind him.

 _What could have happened to make her leave a family like that?_ Giroro wondered. He looked down at Natsumi and sighed. What kind of horrors had she endured?

He couldn't kill someone struggling in their sleep like that. He put his hand gently on her sweaty forehead, trying to calm her. It didn't help.

Her stomach twitched wildly as she rolled from side to side. He eventually just crawled onto her and sat on top of her to keep her from struggling. Her body eventually calmed down.

 _She's not just strength and a big front. She has problems and weaknesses like everyone else._ And if she cared about her family, she had to be a good person. He thought about himself and his brother, Garuru.

He had given up on his one chance to kill her. But maybe that was for the best. Maybe he just had to accept that he was captured and take the opportunity to learn about his enemy, see if everything he had been taught by Keronian society was true. In a way, she was a tough warrior like him. They just aligned themselves on different sides.

Perhaps in the far, distant future, they could even be friends.

Natsumi woke up and saw Giroro on top of her. "EEEEK!" she shrieked, punching him off as he was lost in thought.

"OWWW!" Giroro said as he fell to the ground.

"Pervert! What the hell, frog?!" Natsumi pulled her blankets around her, glaring at him in anger. Her reaction was understandable.

Giroro rubbed his cheek. It was a strong punch. He had to admire that, too. She had powerful fists. _Why do I keep admiring her? Crud. This isn't going where he wanted._ First he had admired her skills in battle, then her plot to humiliate him, her iron control over her ship, her beautifully cold face, her love for her family, and now even her punches. He had hoped in the distant future for them to maybe become friends, but... well... not this quickly. And not one-sidedly.

"I wasn't here cuz I was a pervert!" he defended. "I came here to kill you!"

"Like that makes it any better," she said. "Anyway, you failed." She looked at him with hatred.

Giroro sighed. Maybe he should give her some credit for hating him, too. Could he really hate her for hating her enemy? Keronians, and especially a supporter of the navy, would be any pirate's enemy. He hated his enemies, too.

He couldn't really hold that against her.

She threw him out of her room and locked the door angrily. He stared at the it, wondering what to do. He had failed killing her, and it was likely he wouldn't be able to do it again.

 _Maybe I just have to accept what's happened and respect the choices she made. She does deserve at least a bit of my respect,_ Giroro he reminded himself. He had accidentally saved a pirate and he had to live with his mistake now.

 _Maybe I should even learn more about her. Learn who she is._ He was going to be spending a lot of time with her, after all. Learning about her might get rid of his regret for saving her life.

And he was intrigued by the person Natsumi was. Why would such a tough warrior, someone who cared about her family deeply, become a terrible pirate?

He wanted to learn more about her. He wanted to get to know Natsumi.

He'd make the best of this.

* * *

 **So which chapters do you like better? The ones following Fuyuki or the ones following Natsumi at the moment?**


	4. Skeletons In Your Closet

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Another Fuyuki chapter. *Sighs* more Saburo stuff.**

* * *

Mopping Saburo's ship was terrifying. Mostly because Fuyuki kept finding skeletons in the closets - literally. There were bones, skulls, and all sorts of gross parts all over the place.

"M-maybe they're plastic..." Fuyuki nervously chuckled to himself. Saburo wouldn't really have skeletons on the ship. He knew Saburo and he knew Kululu. And they weren't down right evil. They wouldn't kill anyone.

Correction. _Saburo_ wouldn't kill anyone.

He had seen anatomical models in the science room. Maybe they were like that. He tried to keep his mind off of the terrifying situation he had found himself in.

"S-saburo... K-kululu..." Fuyuki stuttered out when he saw the two of them chatting. "I-I keep finding skeletons everywhere..."

"Oh. Toss those off the ship, please. Ku ku, I keep forgetting to get rid of those," said Kululu.

Fuyuki frowned.

"I... I um... don't take any offense to this, but can I ask you something? Have you killed anyone?" Fuyuki knew they wouldn't. They were good people.

Well, Saburo in _his_ world was a good person.

Saburo and Kululu glanced between each other. "Yes," they both answered.

Fuyuki's eyes widened. So those skeletons... They had been real. He covered his mouth in horror. This couldn't be real. Not at all!

Saburo and Fuyuki looked at him for a good moment, then both burst out laughing.

"You won't last long here with that attitude," Saburo told him.

"I don't _want_ to last long here! I want to go home!" Fuyuki reminded them.

Kululu stopped laughing. "There _is_ no home to go back to. And we won't help you until you help us kill some Pirate Lords. Ku, ku, ku. Just you wait - soon we'll make a murderer out of you, too!"

Fuyuki frowned. He didn't want to kill anyone. Not even those two rival Pirate Lords of Saburo's.

He gulped. Kululu was frightening, but Saburo was still laughing. He seemed less cruel than him. _Maybe I can win him over. Stop him from murdering anyone and helping me instead._

* * *

Despite not being an official part of the crew, Kululu and Saburo brought Fuyuki to their chambers as they held a planning meeting of where to go and how to strike.

Fuyuki didn't really understand or get any of the sea terms they used as they unrolled a map. He didn't get anything they talked about. But as Kululu suggested different theories he had about the Pirate Lords' whereabouts, Fuyuki easily figured out that Saburo was less cruel.

"Then it's decided. We'll go to the Trazeh Sea in search of our rookie Pirate Lord." Like any bad pirate, Saburo struck his blade into the map.

"Ku! You ruined a perfectly good map!" Kululu gasped.

"Plenty more where those came from," said Saburo. "Anyway, let's take it slower with this attack - a bit of the Waiting Game won't hurt anybody."

Saburo was also more thoughtful than Kululu, Fuyuki noted. And this Saburo was so mysterious. Maybe it was the way the feather on his hat blowed in the breeze, even though they were inside a room and there was no breeze.

How had someone like him become the Pirate Lord of the sea? He was so much tougher and more distant than the other Saburo.

After Kululu finished recording their battle strategy, Fuyuki approached Saburo. He wanted to talk to him without Kululu interrupting, although he knew Kululu would hear him.

"I know you're not truly evil. Do you really have to kill the Pirate Lords?" Fuyuki asked him. "You don't have to do this." He didn't want to see an alternate version of his friend go down this path.

Saburo shrugged. "In this business you have to be tough, Fuyuki."

"You don't have to be tough around me." Fuyuki grabbed his arm and tried to look at him, _really_ look at him. Saburo would be able to see his friendliness and non-threatening appearance, right? He could trust him. "I want to genuinely be your friend. And you don't have to kill anyone for that."

Saburo paused a moment as if listening to Fuyuki, but soon enough he coldly brushed him off, ignoring his offer. "So there's only two Pirate Lords besides us left." Saburo ignored Fuyuki and talked to Kululu. "I hate the newest one. That bozo thinks he can be a Pirate Lord so easily... Just comes outta nowhere! Let's take him out first."

"Ku, agreed. We'll take out the more experienced one next," said Kululu.

Kululu and Saburo kept chattering about their plans. When Fuyuki finally got Saburo's attention again, he just brushed him off.

"Clean the ship. You shouldn't even be listening to these plans. I only brought you here to scare you anyway." Saburo told him.

Fuyuki looked down. Brushed off and ignored again.

* * *

He mopped the floors again, looking depressed.

"Ku. Cleaning duty again, huh?" Kululu approached him ,laughing at the very sad kid. Fuyuki brightened up when he saw someone he knew, even if that person was Kululu.

"Kululu... is Saburo usually this distant? My world's Saburo is usually much more fun-loving and easy-going," he said. He hadn't expected Saburo to be so different in this other world.

Kululu sat down on a barrel, looking at Fuyuki for a moment. "Don't judge him too harshly. He may not have had a chance to show you, but Saburo's a good guy."

"He's planning on _killing_ people!" Fuyuki said.

"Well, deep _down_ Saburo's a good guy. Unlike me, ku ku. He might be a lot like your Saburo, for all you know. He has to put on a tough front as a Pirate Lord, after all. It's a tough job. Pirate Lords are supposed to be unstoppable scourges of the sea, inspiring fear in all. And Saburo's one of those three people who has the title," said Kululu. "He's worked hard to be a top pirate."

"But... he's so mean to me..." Fuyuki looked sad.

"Of course he is. He has to especially put up a tough front around you! You are the first person to stumble into his treasure trove, a treasure trove that's hidden away on an invisible island. I don't know how he came upon it, he's even a bit mysterious to me, but you somehow got into a place that no one's ever seen before. So he's threatened by you and he has to intimidate you so you don't tell anyone about it," Kululu explained.

Fuyuki nodded. So that was why Saburo was trying to act so scary!

He was glad that he wasn't the only one who knew nothing about him, though. Kululu seemed to not know some of Saburo's mysteries, as well. That made him feel better.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Fuyuki asked finally looking at Kululu. It seemed awfully nice of him.

"Ku. Because Saburo thrives on friendship, unlike me. And you said you wanted to be his friend," he said, "I owe Saburo a lot. He's a good friend of mine. So I thought I might explain why he's acting like that. And you know a part of Saburo I don't, from the other world," he said.

Fuyuki smiled. He was glad that Kululu was so loyal to his friends.

* * *

Eventually Saburo approached him, stopping his work.

 _I have to be friendly enough so that he stops feeling like he needs to intimidate me,_ Fuyuki reminded himself.

"Since you'll be on this ship for a while, I thought it would be in your best interest to give you a tour," Saburo told him. Fuyuki nodded. Maybe he'd learn more about Saburo through this.

"I'd love to!" he said.

"You'll regret saying that, ku, ku, ku," Kululu laughed.

"One has to have my permission, of course, to be able to see the ship." Saburo started the tour showing Fuyuki around. "I have to let you enter it. In a way, it's very spiritual." He fiddled with the talisman around his neck that caused the ship to be invisible. "It's like a phantom. That's why I named it that."

"The Phantom sounds like a nice name for a ship," Fuyuki complimented. "Did Kululu make you the talisman?"

Saburo looked confused. "No. It's magic. I got it from a plunder."

"Ku. Sure ya did. I'll learn someday where you got it." Kululu rolled his eye.

Saburo continued the tour. "Of course, you already know I'm the captain of the ship, and these are my quarters." He showed him the door.

"And Kululu's the first mate!" Fuyuki guessed.

"Nah, he's not my first mate," Saburo chuckled. "He's our surgeon - a very important job for any ship."

"Ku, ku, ku. Need a limb removed? Cuz I love doing that," said Kululu. Fuyuki winced and tried to hang to Saburo's arm.

Saburo laughed.

The tour mostly continued like that. Kululu trying to scare Fuyuki, and Fuyuki trying to be more friendly with Saburo. It mostly worked, but he didn't learn much more about him. Saburo still thought Fuyuki was rather weak, but he did feel closer to him, like he was less of a threat.

"All right, tour's done," Saburo finally told him. He had shown Fuyuki all the places on the ship. "Now, I guess you're a part of my crew. Hm... think I'll make you a cabin boy. Do you want to relax and take a drink with the rest of the crew?"

Fuyuki paled. "A drink?" He was underage! In his universe, he knew drinking underage was not something he should do... but he wanted to get in good with Saburo and the crew to get their help. So he slowly nodded.

"Great! We have plenty of booze to go around!" Saburo clapped his hands.

* * *

"Uhh... Saburo?" Fuyuki looked at an empty room. The crew that he had seen all over the ship had not accompanied them. "Why isn't the crew here to drink with us?"

"Ku, ku, ku. They're afraid of me. They never party with us anymore," Kululu said simply.

Fuyuki opened his mouth, but then closed it. That actually made sense. He would probably make the same choice. It was a smart one: avoid Kululu.

"They think he's twisted," Saburo whispered, pouring Fuyuki some beer. Fuyuki looked at the glass, but didn't drink. He still didn't want to. It felt wrong.

Saburo and Kululu drank, though. And they drank a _lot_.

 _Probably cuz they're pirates,_ Fuyuki reminded himself. It didn't take long for Kululu and Saburo to just start laughing, drunken and hammered. It hadn't actually taken long at all.

 _They sure drank a lot,_ Fuyuki saw. And he was still holding his first cup, looking down at it awkwardly.

Did Saburo get drunk in front of Fuyuki because he trusted him?

"Ku, ku, ku. We're the Pirate Kings!" Kululu clacked his cup against Saburo's and drank again. Saburo laughed.

"Umm... Saburo?" Fuyuki asked.

"Want to join in on the hearty conversation? We were just talking about which part of the body was least important," Saburo smiled.

"Ku, ku, ku. I said _eye_. Get it? Cuz I don't have mine! Ku, ku, ku!" Kululu burst out laughing, pointing to his eyepatched eye.

"Yeah, about that... Why do you have an eyepatch over your glasses lens? Wouldn't it be easier to put it _under_ it?" Fuyuki asked.

Kululu stared at him blankly. Saburo stared down at his glass.

"God, I'm drunk. I'm always drunk, aren't I?" Saburo asked. "I've never once asked that. But that's the smartest question I've ever heard. Make this boy king!"

Kululu just stared. He didn't know, himself. "I... well, I can't see if I don't have my glasses on..."

"But you have no eye." Fuyuki pointed out. "You couldn't see anyway."

Kululu looked down at his cup. "Nobody could tell that I had no eye if I put it under my glasses." But he wasn't sure himself why he had made that choice. Why did he want people to know he had no eyeball? To look cool? He took another drink, not wanting to think about it.

Fuyuki smiled. Now that he had gotten in good with them and made idle conversation, he could finally start asking the real questions. "So... why are you a pirate, anyway, Saburo? Why did you choose to have this life?"

Saburo took a slow drink, "Getting deep, aren't we?" Saburo asked. "It wasn't anything like I was forced into or born into it. It was just my dream. When I was little, I would always hear tales of pirates. It fascinated me. It always did, even if the sea turned most people away. I wanted so much to be famous, to get the most treasure in the world. To go down in history. And I'm so close to my goal of being the best in the sea." He grinned.

Fuyuki grinned a little. That actually wasn't too bad of a reason, nothing really scary. "That's kind of how I feel about studying the occult," he shared "I loved it as a kid, and now it's just kind of my passion."

Saburo smiled at him.

"Ick. Stop this friendly nonsense," shouted Kululu.

Fuyuki smiled back. He could feel it. The two of them were bonding!

"You're a good person, Fuyuki. Not bad at all," Saburo told him, "It's likely that we'll perhaps become good friends someday since it's very unlikely you'll be able to return to your world."

Fuyuki's smile dropped at that depressing bit of information. He took a sip from his glass finally. He didn't want to think about that, all the things he was leaving behind. He wanted to be home. He liked Saburo fine, but he wanted to be with his friends and family.

"So... do you miss anyone? What do you miss most about that world? I'll try to make it easier on you being here; at least you have one old friend, me, right?" said Saburo.

Kululu clapped. "Yes! Tell us about your boring life in your old world and the pathetic stuff you miss."

Fuyuki drank a bit more. He didn't really want to talk about what he missed in his world. "Well, naturally I miss my family, like sis and Mom, and my friends, like the Sarge."

"But what do you miss the _most_?" Saburo asked. Fuyuki thought. And in his hazy, drunken state, one thing came to mind.

"Well, I mean there is this one girl. Ack! But I don't like her or anything, not in that way. But she's a good friend of mine, I was going to go to our club today. She's so sweet... Kind of cute. But wait! No, I didn't say she was cute! She's not like that. We're just friends, I don't have a crush on her... But I do want to see her again..." Fuyuki started blushing as he talked about Momoka. He couldn't just leave her in the other world alone. He missed her so much.

Saburo stared blankly as he talked about his crush and drank more. Soon he started frowning.

"Okay, maybe I do like her. But don't tell Fuyuki! I don't know yet," Fuyuki slurred drunkenly. He wasn't sure why Saburo was frowning at him. Hadn't there been a friendly mood moments ago?

Kululu stood up, dropped his cup, and left.

Then Saburo pulled out his knife.

As if realizing the danger, Fuyuki's mind sobered up for a moment. "Wait... what are you doing, Saburo?" Saburo pressed his knife against Fuyuki's throat, not nearly hard enough to draw blood, but he looked mad.

"Kululu's not my first mate, but he my best friend," he growled. "And making him uncomfortable is unforgivable and even if you are pretty cute, if you do it again I'll have to kill you."

Fuyuki looked frightened. "Wh-what did I do? How did I make him uncomfortable?" He hadn't even noticed the change in Kululu's expression and how his laughter had stopped when he had talked about Momoka.

"There's a rule on this ship. One I should have told you. We do not ever talk about lovers. You should best remember that before you talk about your girl." Saburo pulled the knife away from Fuyuki and slumped into his chair, pulling his hat over his eyes so he could get some drunken sleep.

Fuyuki looked at Saburo for a moment. "Why not? Why does that make Kululu uncomfortable?"

Saburo peered out of under his hat. "Because he lost his. He doesn't like talking about it. Ever heard the phrase misery loves company? That's him. Other people talking about how good they have it makes him remember. So don't say anything."

Fuyuki looked so confused. He had honestly had no idea. "I'm sorry," he said. "The Kululu in my world is such a loner... He prides himself on being the most dislikable guy. I don't think he'd ever even want to have a lover, so I had no idea..."

"Shut up," Saburo told him. "And don't ever talk about that with Kululu."

Fuyuki winced as he watched all his progress with Saburo go down the drain. Soon, Saburo was asleep.

Terrified, Fuyuki curled up on the floor and fell asleep, hoping that someone from his world would come and save him.

* * *

 **As you can see Fuyuki's chapters are a bit more plot filled. They have a goal of finding the pirate lords.**

 **And yes, in this fic Fuyuki does like Momoka.**

 **Please review.**


	5. Chief Consort

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **A few sexual scenes in this chapter. Skip if you dislike that stuff.**

 **Just another chapter choked full of Gironatsu.**

* * *

Giroro really did want to try to understand Natsumi a little better. But she was still way mad at him for sneaking into her room.

She gave him a cold glare in the morning and mostly ignored him. He was stranded with her there, anyway.

"Why'd you turn to piracy?" he asked curiously. He still didn't support what pirates stood for. But she just ignored him.

"Man the board, and sail to the west," Natsumi ordered her crew. They saluted her and did what she said.

Since Natsumi was ignoring him, he looked out to the sea, sighing. His plan to get to know her better might not work since she wanted nothing to do with him. He decided to just observe her and how she treated her ship's crew. She had ruled _him_ with an iron fist, after all.

"Natsumi, this person was caught taking more rations than they needed." Someone brought a person before her who had been stealing bread.

 _Ah, and here's a perfect opportunity to see what kind of captain she is!_ Giroro smiled. How would Natsumi deal with a crew member who had disobeyed? He had heard stories of how pirate captains tortured crew members who disobeyed, giving them huge lashes or letting the birds peck at them.

Natsumi looked at the person. "You'll mop the floors for stealing from me. If you wanted more food, you just needed to ask and tell me you were hungry. I would have given everybody more rations," she said.

The person's expression brightened at being granted mercy.

Giroro frowned. That was hardly a punishment at all! She had pretty much just let them go free! _The Keron military had a much harsher approach,_ he recalled. Although the punishments had been painful, grueling, even humiliating, it stopped people from disobeying. Natsumi's approach would get people to betray her. It wasn't efficient in the least bit.

"You need to make this ship more militarized if you want to be a feared Pirate Lord," Giroro advised her.

She looked down at him. "I'll run my ship how I like. As a pirate, I'm a free person."

"A free person who pillages, plunders, and steal things that aren't yours!" he growled. He still didn't like pirates. "I'm just saying, if you want to make it as a pirate, you have to go big."

Natsumi laughed. "The person who just yesterday saying he hated piracy is giving me advice. This is rich."

"I'm just saying what you're doing is inefficient! Your punishments are too lax!"

"No, they aren't," she insisted. "I kill people who are my enemies, but my crew has earned my loyalty."

"I wonder if you would have sent me to walk the plank so easily if I was a Pekoponian like you," said Giroro. "Or if what you're saying is that you only kill and inflict harsh punishments on _Keronians_." He grinned at having figured it out.

Natsumi poked a glare at him. "Our nations have always been at odds with each other! You can't blame me for hating Keronians. They try to auction us humans off like dolls!"

Giroro frowned. She was sort of right.

"And you're no different. You attempted to murder me last night when I had spared your life, remember?" she said. "So I don't think I'll be following any of _your_ advice. No militarization here. Though I bet Keron's like that - cruel to those who are loyal to them." She looked down. She hated Keron.

Giroro tried to retort, but he couldn't really correct her. It was true. He'd been raised in a very tough, militaristic society.

Unfortunately, Natsumi had made many good points.

But that didn't mean he'd back down.

* * *

He continued arguing with her, nit-picking every little thing she did as a captain, trying to tell her he could have done it better. He still felt some ownership for the ship they were on. He had paid good money for it, after all.

Eventually, Natsumi grew sick and tired of his arguing. Usually she just yelled at him, but now she was done with it.

"You've argued enough for one day. You haven't done anything useful!" she yelled. "I think it's time for you to start your duties as my consort."

Giroro took a step back, baffled. "W-wait... What? But I thought... I thought you said that job was in name only!"

"Go into my room and wait for me," she ordered. "I will be there soon."

* * *

He had tried arguing against her, but eventually he found himself waiting on her bed for her. He had been there just last night.

 _What do I do?_ he wondered. He wanted to fight back, argue some more with his enemy, but at the same time there was a part of him that didn't see a problem with doing this sort of job. _Damn my lust and my instincts!_ He hadn't even come up with a good reason to not do this, or even fight back.

It was probably because, even though Natsumi was his enemy, she was quite beautiful. She had a nice figure, tall and supple, and perfectly toned muscles. Her hair and her face was just perfect...

Giroro tried to shake his head. He was not going to think of Natsumi in any sort of way like that. She was his enemy. And although he was in a position where it appeared his job was to sleep with her, he was going to fight his urges. He was not lusting after the enemy.

But at the same time, it wasn't just her body that was beautiful. Her personality was growing on him, too. He admired her strength, inner and outer. She seemed mysterious. Even arguing with her was fun, in a way. She'd proven that she cared about the people under her. She just wanted people to be free.

 _Okay, Giroro. Sleeping with a pirate is bad. But falling for one? Even worse. Start thinking with your brain and not your heart, or worse, your lower body,_ he told himself.

"I'm here." Natsumi opened the door to her room to see Giroro waiting for her.

 _All right, got to keep arguing. Appear like an enemy._ "I suppose the reason you changed your mind is because arguing actually turns you on? Tch, weirdo," he kinkshamed, hoping this was the case... because it certainly applied to him. He laughed at her anyway.

"You wish." She grinned at him for a moment, clearly thinking of something humiliating for him.

He knew he was in for something bad, but what was really humiliating was his own emotions. He was considering that it wasn't too bad being her consort, and he hadn't even been in this position for a week!

Sleeping with Natsumi wouldn't be too bad at all. She was so beautiful and alluring and strong... No, it wouldn't be a bad experience at all. In fact, it would be very good.

Natsumi inched closer to him as he mulled this over quietly.

 _Sleeping with Natsumi..._. He tried not to think of it too much. But a different image popped into his head. Several children between them with pink hair like hers. They played around on the ship and Giroro laughed happily as he watched them and helped taught them to shoot their enemies... Him and Natsumi kissing.

He was in fantasy land.

 _No! Just because she wants to sleep with you doesn't mean you're going to raise a family with her!_ Giroro pulled at his hat flaps desperately, shaking his head vividly. But... being her chief consort _did_ mean he'd be with her a good long time. And that she actually wanted to do that meant that in some way, she was feeling the same tension he was feeling.

 _I can't believe I just imagined Natsumi and me raising kids together and being happy and loving..._ He had to scold himself. He was disgusted with himself. She was a pirate...

And... he was her consort, in her bed with her.

Natsumi watched him shake his head and look very angrily with himself but also dreamy. She wasn't sure what was going on.

Natsumi started unbuttoning her coat. That got Giroro to snap back into reality.

"Um... uhh... N-Natsumi..." He didn't really know what to say as the pirate captain inched closer and closer to him. Her face was inches away from his as each of her fingers twiddled with the buttons. Soon her coat was off, with only a small tank under it.

Giroro closed his eyes and instinctfully puckered his lips. She was getting closer for a kiss, right? And this was his job... To live, he had to accept this.

"Wash it." Natsumi tossed him the coat. His eyes snapped open.

"Huh?" He was so confused. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"I called you hear to clean my clothes, to launder them. I didn't think of what other work to put you through," she told him with a shrug. "Seems humiliating enough."

Giroro took the coat, his eyes still wide open. He could see the tank top strand on her shoulder somewhat slipping off... He looked away. He wouldn't let his enemy see his various obvious disappointment.

Natsumi could see it, though. Her lips turned upward in a playful smile. "Oh? I think _you_ might be the sick pervert who gets turned on from arguing, Giroro,~" she teased. "So don't say I was."

"I did _not_!" Giroro snapped. "You just want to think that - " He was cut off as Natsumi got closer to him again. This time, she wasn't in the process of taking off any clothes.

 _Is... Is she trying to tease me again? Humiliate me? Play with my feelings?_ he wondered. He could feel her hot breath against his lips, but he didn't make the mistake of moving closer. He just sweated, his eyes wide and confused.

She was so close to kissing him again. And he couldn't deny that his heart rate had accelerated.

He was a sicko, wasn't he? Wanting this with the enemy? He had failed and he completely wanted her to kiss him. He was so into her.

"You wanted something to happen, didn't you? You wanted to do an _actual_ consort's job." She laughed a little. "Maybe I should give in, and give a little kiss to my _savior._ " She was teasing him again. "Would you like that, Gi-ro-ro?" she asked, letting him see the movement of her lips as she elongated each of her syllables.

 _No. No, I don't. I'm a warrior. And proud,_ Giroro thought. But his voice didn't communicate his thoughts. He just gave a weak, limp nod, his eyes transfixed on her lips.

She got closer and closer, her arms against his chest. And then she pushed him off the bed and laughed.

The jostle to the floor woke him up from his fantasies.

"HAHAHA!" she laughed, rolling onto her side. "I got you! Take that, proud Keron soldier! You're only going to do my laundry! You've got to be _this_ tall..." She raised her hand far above him. "...to ride the Natsumi ride." Then she continued laughing.

Giroro sighed. "Stop laughing. It was a momentary break of concentration and judgment. I didn't nod, I just... my head bobbed down. I would never kiss a pirate."

Natsumi wiped away a tear. "I know. I'm just teasing you. It's fun to know that I can get under your skin so easily." She started taking off her tank top, quickly throwing it down to him.

"W-wait... what!?" He shielded his eyes as she got naked. "What are you doing?"

"Getting naked. How else are you going to wash my clothes?" she asked. She handed him a weird object made from two fabric cups. He had never seen the item of clothing in Keron, but it seemed she had been using it to hold her breasts.

He tried not to look. He had no idea how she had just flirted with him and was now so easily taking off her clothes. She began discarding her boots and socks, as well.

"If you keep saying I'm a pervert, why are you getting naked in front of me?" he asked.

Natsumi gave him a confused look. "God, you're dumb," she told him. "I was just _teasing_ you. I didn't really think that. After all, you're a Keronian and I'm a human. People of different species can't be attracted to each other. That's actually why I chose you as my consort, 'cause there was no harm in it. It's not like you can check me out or anything." She laughed again.

Giroro just stared blankly at her. She was oh so wrong. And he smiled, because he knew this. It was time to actually win something over this famed pirate captain, to have the last laugh. Even if it cost him telling her a few things he'd rather not say. If he was going down, so was she.

"There's where you're wrong, Natsumi," he said with a laugh. "We can be attracted to Pekoponians quite easily."

"Nah, you just think that because Keronians like to pretend that for some weird power kick," she said. "It's like we're trophies to them when they sell us."

Giroro stared at her. " _I_ am quite attracted to you, Natsumi. So I think I would know that you're wrong. I think I might even go as far to say you're the most attractive woman I've ever seen." He laughed again as her face changed to utter embarrassment.

"You're joking," she breathed.

Giroro cocked a brow. "Do I look like I am?"

Blushing, she threw a pillow at his face, then grabbed her coat and quickly covered herself. "Get out. I'll give you my c-clothes after I've changed."

Giroro nodded and left the room, but he could see how pink her cheeks were... how she was stumbling over her words.

He smiled once he was outside her door. He had had the last laugh, and it made him feel a little bit better, knowing that he had gotten the famed Pirate Lord to stumble over her words like that.

He did her laundry, anyway.

* * *

Later that day, Natsumi had orders for her crew.

"There's a port town near here. We're going to dock and pillage as much as we want, striking terror into the hearts of the civilians," she said. "The people have gone too long with not seeing me. They might have forgotten after my defeat. They need to remember so I can reclaim my reputation and become the great Pirate Lord that they once feared."

Giroro frowned. He didn't much like the idea of pillaging. It sounded exactly like what he had expected pirates to do.

The crew cheered, though, and Natsumi steered the course.

* * *

He saw Natsumi on the deck, later that night, staring at the stars. He knew if he tried to convince her out of stealing from people she would refuse, so he didn't speak much about it.

Instead, he decided to do the one thing he could to get under her skin - flirt with her. He knew she wouldn't kill him; she knew she owed him a debt. But he could annoy her and rebel in little ways to show that he didn't like piracy, and that he hadn't completely fallen for the enemy, even if that rebellion was through flirting.

"The stars are pretty," he told her, trying to sound tough.

"Yeah, I suppose they are. It's so pretty seeing just them and open sea," she told him.

"They're pretty, but not as pretty as you,~" Giroro teased.

Natsumi blushed. "Sh-shut up! Okay, I get it. I was wrong. Apparently I can seduce not _just_ humans." He could tell she felt a little bit of pride, too. "But if you keep bringing it up when we get to town, I'll start showing you around to the people like my trophy. My beautiful, dolly consort. I'm sure your reputation would be ruined by that sting to your pride," she said with a laugh.

Giroro winced and kept quiet. He didn't want to be humiliated like that. He did not want the position he was in getting back to his family.

So he stayed in silence, looking at the stars with her. Finally, he spoke about something that wasn't teasing her. "The other night... when I tried to kill you, you were moaning in your sleep."

"What about it?" Natsumi looked bored and annoyed by his question.

"You moaned out your family's names. What happened to them? Did you leave them to become a pirate?" he asked. He could imagine that. Pirates were traitors to their nation, and probably their family, too.

"This might strike you as odd, but not everybody leaves their family out of choice. My family isn't around anymore, they're gone," Natsumi said simply. "My mother died when I was a young girl, only ten years old. I had nowhere else to go. There aren't many jobs out their for a young girl with nothing to her name. I had no home. So I turned to the only thing that would pay, that I'd learn something from, that didn't care about class... Piracy. I stowed away on a ship and was taken in by the crew. Because you know what? Pirates are nicer than controlling nations. Quickly, I found my way, I moved up in ranks until I was finally a captain. It's as simple as that." She shrugged. "Pirates aren't that bad of people. They don't care about things like social class, something my family didn't have. They're free," she explained.

Giroro just listened to the story. He had assumed she had chosen her life, but it was really a forced decision. _She had no where else to go._ He had heard the social classes situation in the Pekopon nation was bad - you were born into the job you'd have the rest of your life, unless you had a certain amount of skills. And there was a lot of poverty, lots of it. Without a family, Natsumi had nowhere else to turn to. He felt sorry for her and understood her a little more after seeing her side.

He put his hand on hers, trying to show he supported her and understood what she was saying. That he was listening, really listening. "Sometimes running away and leaving something is the best option," he spoke. Staying at Pekopon probably would have caused her to die of starvation, but on the sea, she thrived.

"Is that what happened to you? You ran away?" she asked quietly. "Is your family dead, too?"

Giroro was quiet for a moment. "No, my family is very much alive," he told her. "Although you're right about the 'running away' part. I left them because I brought great dishonor to them. I couldn't stay."

Natsumi was confused. "So... why do you free slaves? I've never heard of a Keronian doing that."

"Not all Keronians are awful," he pointed out. "But I wouldn't be the exception to the awful rule. I free slaves because I want to. It's the right thing to do. I don't support the slave trade at all."

"Why do you say you're not the exception to the awful rule, then, if you really were just being a good person?" she asked.

"Because... I've been doing it for years. To make up for something awful I did, something I deeply regret," he responded.

Natsumi was silent as she listened. Owning up to a mistake and trying to repent was hard. She knew she barely did it herself.

"Well, my ship is the perfect place to run away from our past and make our own lives. And you've found it just like I have. So you deserve a place here too," she decided with a smile. "I don't blame you for running away, either."

Giroro smiled at her a little bit. "Thanks."

"Nice to meet you, I guess, Giroro." She shook his hand.

He felt like they were finally on better terms.

* * *

 **Please review.**


	6. Dead Crew

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **And wow, stuff actually happens this chapter. And there's even hints about Natsumi's story arc.**

* * *

Fuyuki was frightened. All his progress with Saburo and Kululu - gone. And his world, something he didn't know how to reach and had hoped Saburo and Kululu would help him get back, was probably unreachable.

Mentioning it after all might cause Kululu to be upset. He didn't know what other subjects would cause him to just flat up leave, and Saburo to threaten him.

He knew he couldn't mention Momoka, although he was pretty embarrassed that they now thought she was his lover, but what else was wrong to mention from the other world?

He didn't know.

"Ku. Sleep your first drunken stupor off well, Fuyuki?" Kululu's mood seemed good when he approached him, like he had forgotten the previous night. He yawned and stretched casually.

"Uh... um... Uhh, yeah." Fuyuki looked down. "Kululu, um I'm really sorr - " He stopped his apology when he saw Saburo glaring at him.

Apparently all _hadn't_ been forgiven.

"Ku, what's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Kululu asked, "Geez, what an idiot. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu laughed. He seemed unreasonably chill, like he had forgotten the previous night. And for that Fuyuki was thankful.

But Saburo hadn't. He knew there was a dark atmosphere between them. Apparently Saburo remembered things better from being drunk.

When Kululu was out of hearing distance, Fuyuki waited for Saburo to say something to him, to scold him, anything. But Saburo mostly just dropped the subject. He gave a stiff nod to Fuyuki, like he wouldn't mention it if he would.

 _They're good friends, aren't they? Saburo's really protective of him._ A part of Fuyuki wished Saburo would be like that with him. He needed Saburo in this world. He was his only ally, the only person who believed him. And Saburo and he had been a lot closer than Kululu and he had.

But he might have screwed things up. He knew from experience the one thing you never forgave was hurting a friend. Why, if someone hurt Keroro... Well, actually, he'd probably understand it. Keroro did get hurt an awful lot.

Fuyuki smiled a bit. Oh, how he wished he had seen Keroro in this new world. But it was likely Keroro wasn't doing anything of importance. He was probably in some town playing with something that resembled Gundam.

Saburo and Kululu, they had motivation and ambition. And sometimes Keroro's ambition got a little side-tracked. So it was likely he'd never see him. If he had, Fuyuki was confident that he would have instantly hit it off with him. More so than he was hitting it off with Saburo. Saburo was a difficult person to understand, unlike Keroro, who was straight-forward. Saburo was mysterious.

 _If only I could see the Sarge. Or even me._

And that gave Fuyuki an idea.

* * *

He had met Saburo and Kululu in this world. So the people he knew, even aliens like Keronians, were present in this world.

If he met himself, he'd probably help himself. He could figure out why he had called himself here what was going on and they could work together. Two minds were always better than one.

So Fuyuki cautiously grew some confidence to mention his old world. "Hey, um... Saburo and Kululu... About my old world, and this new parallel one..." He bit his lip. "Have you ever met me?" he asked curiously. "A different version of me, I mean."

Kululu and Saburo looked between each other. Fuyuki hoped that this kind of question wasn't too uncomfortable for them to answer.

"No," Saburo answered honestly. "This is the first time I've met you, besides the first time you crashed into my treasure trove."

Kululu got out a pen and a piece of paper and started doing some mathematical calculations. After a minute or so, he spoke up. "It's incredibly improbable in an alternate world to meet someone you already know out of the billions of people that exist in it. And it's near the billionth of decimals of a percent for someone to act the same and have the same relationships as they do in an alternate world. So Saburo wouldn't be friends with you even if you were friends in your world. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu was still an incredible super genius in any world.

Fuyuki frowned. So neither of them had met him, and it was likely they never would. He sighed. "I'm pretty lucky to have just encountered you two, then," he said. "Because I know both of you in my world. And you're pretty similar, at least in your relationship. You were pretty good friends back there, too."

Instead of disbelieving it, Kululu and Saburo shared a bro-fist.

"Did you hear that? Statistics don't mean anything for our friendship," Saburo laughed.

"Ku, ku, ku. I believe it. I guess we're just too good of wave-buddies. Universe doesn't care," Kululu shrugged.

"I can't believe we're good friends in both worlds. Pretty sweet, huh?" Saburo laughed.

"Buddies! We're buddies. Comrades." Kululu turned around, getting slightly embarrassed at such a word like "friend," but he smiled to himself nonetheless. It seemed he liked the news that he and Saburo were close in both worlds. Saburo rubbed his head before picking him up on his shoulders and laughing.

Fuyuki smiled. At least he had made them a little happy, even if the news that they didn't know him didn't help anything.

* * *

There was another thing Fuyuki found similar in this world, besides Saburo and Kululu's friendship. And he didn't feel too cautious about mentioning it.

"Your talisman that makes the ship invisible is similar to a mechanism on my world called anti-barriers. All the Keronians have it to become invisible," Fuyuki explained. He lounged on a chair as he took a break from mopping the deck. Saburo and Kululu kept working him to the bone.

Saburo fiddled with his talisman. "Really? That's kind of cool. Hey, Kululu, why don't you have something like that here?"

Kululu shrugged. "We Keronians have less important things to work on than technological advancements. Instead, we're looking for military supremacy. And still failing, thanks to pirates like us. Ku, ku, ku." He took pride in knowing he was a thorn in somebody's side - especially his own kind's.

"So how was it made? Is it, like, a piece of alien technology?" Fuyuki asked excitedly, his eyes sparkling.

"Alien?" Kululu spoke. In a world where Keronians and humans lived together, there was no such thing as aliens.

Fuyuki dropped the subject. He guessed he would save that for another discussion.

Saburo smiled. "Nah, it's just pure magic. Not made through technology." He took the talisman off his neck and Fuyuki felt a ripple go through the ship, letting it become visible to people not on it. "Want to see it?"

"Hey! That's important, you shouldn't risk letting that kid touch it," Kululu warned him.

"I trust him," said Saburo. He handed Fuyuki the talisman. "And maybe he'll figure out some new things about it. He said he liked the occult, after all."

Fuyuki caught it in his hands. Saburo's toss was light and playful, but it was still hard for Fuyuki to catch things. As soon as Fuyuki's bare fingers touched the talisman the world disappeared around him, like a buzz.

As if he was back in his dreams, he saw a close-up of his own lips moving. He couldn't read what he was saying, or see his eyes. A cloak covered them but Fuyuki still recognized his own lips. He saw them in the mirror every day.

"Wh-what...?" What was this Fuyuki saying to him? Had he reached him after all this time? But in seconds, he was back. The image of Fuyuki was gone. And Fuyuki just looked confused.

"Well, figure anything out on how it gets its power?" Saburo asked, unaware of the illusion Fuyuki had seen. Fuyuki shook his head.

"Where did you say you got this again?" He felt a connection to it. The talisman in his hand had to have a connection to why he'd come here. It had to be linked to it.

"Plundering a vessel. It was part of the ship's treasures." Saburo shrugged. "It was before Kululu was in my crew, but everyday I thank myself for finding it. It helped make me a Pirate Lord and the powerful person I am today." Saburo took his talisman back. He loved it.

"Shouldn't have told him that, if it's so important. Ku, ku, ku. Got to stop being so overly trusting. Remember the last person you trusted who tried to rob us blind?" Kululu asked.

"Yeah, she was a pretty cute girl. Pity about trying to rob us though. She sleeps with the fishies now." Saburo had made tons of mistakes in his past and in was no secret he had a weakness for cute faces.

Kululu laughed. "Ku, ku, ku. Still you should learn your lesson."

Fuyuki tried to ignore their argument. "So, uhh... Kululu, is there anything that makes you powerful like this talisman?" he wondered.

Kululu laughed "Ku, ku, ku. Well it certainly isn't my vision. Remember, I was robbed blind. Get it, robbed blind? Cuz I lost an eye! Ku, ku, ku." He rolled on the floor, laughing.

Saburo and Fuyuki kind of looked at each other awkwardly. Kululu's sense of humor was awkward.

"So... someone just stole your eye while you were sleeping?" Fuyuki pieced together. He didn't know how that had happened.

Kululu stopped laughing. "Nah, I lost my eye in a much more important way. Gambling," he answered.

Fuyuki looked at Kululu. He forced a laugh, thinking it was a joke.

"It's not that funny. It was actually pretty serious," said Saburo.

Fuyuki shut up. _This world is serious and deadly. Where the heck am I?_ he wondered.

* * *

Fuyuki could finally see land in the distance.

"We're going to dock and get some supplies. You'll accompany town with Kululu and me. I don't want you running off and telling anyone the secrets I told you," said Saburo.

Fuyuki was just excited to finally be on land. He hated being at sea. It frightened him - if he fell off, he was dead. He couldn't swim to save his life.

When they approached port, however, Fuyuki didn't see the bubbly port town that he had hoped. Instead, he saw nooses hanging, and bodies stacked and dangling, their eyes bulging and lifeless.

It was the first time Fuyuki had seen a real body. He started shaking as they docked - he recognized at least two of the bodies. _Yayoi and Satsuki,_ he thought to himself.

"It says 'no pirates,' not like we're going to listen, ku, ku, ku," Kululu chuckled. As a Pirate Lord, it wasn't like this port town stood a chance against them, but it did look like they had recently murdered some pirates to set an example.

Fuyuki stumbled off the ramp of the ship. When he reached the dock, he collapsed and vomited, shaking and crying. Kululu looked down at him like he didn't understand.

"It's probably his first dead body. I was the same way," Saburo recalled.

"I wasn't." Kululu didn't understand why someone would be shaking at such a sight. But he supposed he was just used to it, being a surgeon.

Fuyuki was just shaking violently with sobs. "Th-they're dead... They were killed. Hanged! Never going to live again! They weren't much older than me, Saburo... They were my sisters friends in my world. I even talked to them a few times! And now they're hanging there."

"Made an example of for pirate kind." Saburo tried to be respectful. He took off his cape and draped it around Fuyuki's shoulders to keep him warm and stop his shaking. "Kululu, you go buy supplies. I'll stick by Fuyuki."

Kululu nodded and disappeared into the crowd of people to shop. And Saburo tried to comfort Fuyuki, drawing him away from the dead bodies.

* * *

"It's always a risk of punishment like that for us, pirates. Some people don't know why we risk it. But it's for the freedom, the fame, just the thrill of it," he explained, leading Fuyuki away as he shook.

Had his sister been with them? No, Kululu said it was unlikely that people in this world had the same relationships as they did in the other one. And he hadn't seen his sister's body hanging with the rest.

"You'll get used to it, living in this world," Saburo tried to tell him. Fuyuki just shook his head.

"I don't want to be here. People don't die willy-nilly in my world! Things are safe! Things are funny... nice..." He just shook his head. He didn't _want_ to get used to it.

Saburo didn't know what to say. He had grown cold after seeing so much death around him. He couldn't access that innocence of the first death anymore.

"Help me get home. Please..." Fuyuki begged.

Saburo shook his head "I can't. Not until I'm the top Pirate Lord. And that will require killing the other two."

Fuyuki covered his mouth in horror. _They're all monsters in this world. Yayoi and Satsuki didn't deserve to die. But they had been killed anyway._ He just stared at Saburo.

Kululu rushed over, dragging a crate of supplies in a wheelbarrow. "Saburo! Saburo!" he chirped.

"What?" Saburo asked.

"The crew we saw hanging was one of the Pirate Lords'. Apparently she's been defeated. Probably dead. Ku, ku, ku."

Saburo's eyes widened. "Which one?"

"The tough one. Ku." Kululu answered. Saburo did a fist-bump.

This was turning into a good day. One Pirate Lord was already down, and he didn't even do anything!

"Get all the supplies?" Saburo asked. Kululu nodded. "Best get back into the ship, then. Fuyuki can't concentrate here. He probably doesn't feel safe."

Saburo tugged at Fuyuki and lead him back to the invisible-ported ship. But Fuyuki broke out of his grip and glared at him.

"I'm not coming with you. Nothing you can do will get me on that ship. I'm not going to see you murder people," he refused.

"Oh, come on. You're my prisoner, you don't have a choice," Saburo reminded him.

"If I get on, I'll die. If not from people capturing us, from the water. I'm not going to die like Yayoi and Satsuki," Fuyuki shivered. The icy water below the ship terrified him, and so did the premise of getting murdered for going along with a pirate.

"The water? Are you afraid of it?" Saburo was confused.

"I can't swim! I wasn't meant to be on a ship. I'm not going with you," he refused, trying to pathetically fight back.

"Ku, I can't swim either and that doesn't stop me from going onto that ship. Stop being such a weenie," said Kululu. Saburo glanced at him. It had been a while since Kululu had mentioned to someone that he couldn't swim.

Fuyuki looked confused. "I'm going to be murdered. You're going to murder someone in front of me." He kicked his legs pathetically as Saburo swung him over his shoulder.

"Only one person. The last Pirate Lord. And it'll be a victory. And then after that, I promise to try to get you to go home," said Saburo.

Fuyuki smiled.

"And Kululu and I—we're the toughest around. We won't be getting murdered. My ship is safe and invisible. Nobody can find it. I promise to protect you," he told him.

Fuyuki's kicking stopped. He trusted Saburo at least a little bit. But looking backward at Yayoi and Satsuki frightened him. So he just let Saburo carry him aboard the ship.

He wanted to be away from there.

"Let's find that last Pirate Lord, then." Saburo smiled. It was time to become the best in the seas.

Fuyuki didn't speak up. He was just unsure of what to do. This world was so different than his.

 _Sis... What would you do?_ he wondered. She'd fight back. He knew she would.

* * *

 **Please review!**


	7. Friend In Need

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

 **Ah yes, what the Giroro and Natsumi chapters are lacking. A goal that they're working towards. It finally happens.**

* * *

Giroro hated seeing such a loving port town be destroyed and pillaged. Anything that Natsumi wanted, she took. The houses of people who defied her were on fire, but besides that, she didn't needlessly go out of her way to kill people.

He hated seeing it, though. Seeing her pillage a town. He was an honorable soldier, a warrior. This wasn't the way to do things.

"Do you have to pillage this town?" Giroro asked. He liked seeing Natsumi fight against guards and disarm them easily. But it seemed so morally wrong.

"Yeah, it's kind of in the job," she shrugged. "I have to let the world know that the Pirate Lord Natsumi wasn't defeated. That I'm back on top," she explained.

So it was a pride thing. Giroro could understand that a little. He had done all sorts of things, some of which he wasn't proud of, to further his pride. He had quite a temper just like her and had gotten in quite a few fights.

 _We're not too different, are we? Even if she's a pirate,_ he realized, watching her. As she promised, she had dragged him around to keep an eye on him so he wouldn't run off.

He recalled the previous night. The beauty of the stars had been much calmer than the fire from the burning buildings.

Despite what Natsumi was doing and how evil it was, he still admired her. She had been through some tough things. _She had a hard past, but she was strong to live through it._ He admired that. She had gotten through things, lived, and survived. And she had been so easy to talk to. They still called each other enemies, but there was an uneasy alliance between them. Could it be called friendship? Not yet. That was much too far. But a friendship was a nice thing to hope for.

Still, there were various fluffy feelings in his heart when he looked at her. Previously he'd passed them off as admiration, but they were increasing. He saw her faults, her evil, her ruthlessness... How could he not? She was a pirate. But a part of him enjoyed her being his enemy, fighting with her, arguing with her. Her skills, her strength. And he was all too familiar with what the fluffy feeling he was filling was - he'd heard so many stories about it. About love. And now he was falling in love, against his will for a pirate, or more specifically one of the three Pirate Lords.

"So, what do you think, my little _consort_?" Natsumi teased. She held up a bag. "Enough gold yet?"

"Yes." Giroro shrugged. "You shouldn't be stealing anymore."

"Relax, I only stole from the guards. The poorer class I didn't touch. I don't attack people who work for their money and can't afford to lose anything. But there aren't many people like that in this town. Port towns are notorious for being trade points, filled with money and supplies and corporations who want to make quick cash." She shrugged. "So I see no problem pillaging them."

Giroro was speechless. Natsumi sure did know her economics. He just stared at her for a moment.

 _Out of all the people I could have fallen for, why one of the three Pirate Lords? Why did our paths have to cross?_ He was sure he would have been completely happy without ever having met her. He had been doing fine on his own before. But now... She was wrapped up in his mind. It was infuriating.

Natsumi just stared at him, her backed turn to the town. A guard that had previously been under a barrel pushed the barrel off without her knowing. She didn't notice when he approached with his sword at the ready.

"Natsumi, watch out!" Giroro pushed her out of the way, grabbing her revolver from her belt and shooting the guard in the chest before he could stab her. She looked over her shoulder.

"I could have taken him out," she told him, "But thanks." She looked down at the dead guard and said to Giroro, "You're a pirate now, Giroro. This is twice now you've saved one of the three Pirate Lords' lives."

Giroro looked down in shame. She was right - he had saved her again. Was he really turning into a pirate? He didn't want to be. He had just not wanted Natsumi to get hurt.

Noticing his expression, Natsumi told him, "Maybe you're not that bad. Maybe you are just trying to be nice. But I thought you hated me."

"I thought so, too," he admitted. "But... the weird thing... is I don't." He admired her, and he wouldn't lie about that anymore.

Natsumi smiled and lightly punched him in the arm. "Maybe someday you'll graduate from laundry duty and I'll actually let you do something of importance."

"I would prefer my freedom." Giroro told her.

"Not happening. And I told you, my _savior_ isn't a prisoner," she teased. Giroro blushed. That "savior" word always got to him.

Yep, he was falling for with her. It was too late for him. He was doomed. He sighed. How far he had fallen from a great Keron soldier.

* * *

Natsumi gathered her crew in front of her ship. "The town is ours. You can do what you want for a while, but I must visit a friend. So don't stray too far. I will be back soon."

The crew cheered. They knew what that meant. Party!

Giroro looked confused. A friend? "I thought all your friends were killed when your crew was when you were captured."

"You don't get to party with them. I don't want you running off, so I'll have to take you with me to visit my friend." Natsumi beckoned him by her side. "And believe it or not, I _do_ have friends who aren't pirates. Like a normal person."

Giroro was confused. He had assumed pirates didn't stay on land for long.

* * *

They trekked a very long way away from town. Natsumi's friend apparently lived a long ways from civilization, out in the forests.

"What's your friend like?" Giroro asked, curiously. A part of him wondered how close Natsumi was with this friend. A jealous part wondered if this was Natsumi's boyfriend they were going to visit.

"She's a ninja. Ever heard of them?" Natsumi asked. Giroro looked appalled.

"Of course I have! Ninjas aren't in the country of Keron, but they're well-known. They're certainly more honorable than pirates," he said. He'd never actually met one, but a warrior that was a ninja demanded his respect.

Natsumi looked a bit irritated. "Hey! Don't say that. Pirates are better than ninjas. Way cooler."

"What?"

"It's kind of a running argument between Koyuki and me. She thinks ninjas are better, I think pirates are." She crossed her arms. "So? What do you think? Ninjas or Pirates? You better say pirates," she threatened.

"Fine, fine. Pirates are better." Giroro actually thought ninjas were. Pirates were his enemies, but he liked Natsumi more than he liked ninjas.

Natsumi giggled, pleased with his answer. "It sure is nice to have a guy head-over-heels for me who's willing to say anything I want."

Giroro turned bright pink. "I'm not head-over-heels for you!" Darn, how had she figured out?

Natsumi furrowed her brow. "Relax, I was just teasing you. _Obviously_."

Giroro tried to cover up his blush. "I knew that. I really did." It was a good thing Natsumi was so dense.

* * *

They finally reached a little hut in the forest. It looked cozy, simple, humble. The door to the hut opened and a girl with long green hair in a pony-tail walked out. She looked around Natsumi's age and was dressed in a black little dress with a ninja star and stockings. She looked distraught.

"Koyuki! I'm back!" Natsumi waved. So Natsumi's ninja friend, Koyuki, was that girl. Koyuki ran up to Natsumi and tackled her to the ground in a hug.

"Natsumi! I missed you so much!" She snuggled up to her friend. "I heard rumors that your crew had been killed, and that you were dead. But I never believed them. Not once."

Natsumi pat Koyuki's head. "I'm fine. I've reclaimed my ship and gained a new crew. But my old one did get killed. And... well, I'll spare you of the details of my imprisonment. But I'm back on top," she assured her. She waited for the worry to be wiped off of Koyuki's face, but she still looked distraught.

"That's such a relief, because honestly I need you. I've been waiting for you for a while, I haven't known what to do without you. Everyday I've been waiting..." Koyuki told her. Natsumi hugged her.

"I missed you too, but we're together now," she said. "I'm not going anywhere."

"No, I mean I need you to help me with something. I knew you were in no trouble. I trusted you, but there's something... Something big that I need your help with. I can't do it on land. I need a pirate's help." Koyuki still looked distraught.

Natsumi pushed her off and sat down on the ground, looking into her friend's eyes. "What is it?"

"Lady Koyuki, you know the accident isn't your fault. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself." To Natsumi's surprise, the door swung open and another person came outside - a blue Keronian with a mask and a star like Koyuki's.

Natsumi furrowed her brow. She knew her friend well, but this Keronian hadn't been there the last time she had come here. At the same time, Giroro hadn't been with her last time, either. And Koyuki hadn't even noticed him.

Giroro jumped a little, startled. The blue Keronian looked at Giroro for a moment, for a good long moment, staring at him. "Zeroro," Giroro hissed.

 _Huh? Zeroro? Is that Keronian an acquaintance of Giroro's?_ Natsumi didn't know who this was.

"Actually, Giroro, I go by Dororo now," Dororo corrected him, "It's nice to see you, too. How many years has it been?"

"Not enough." Giroro didn't look like he had the most friendly attitude toward him.

"Who is he, Koyuki?" Natsumi asked, distracted from Koyuki's problem at the arrival of the Keronian. She didn't know why he was hanging around her.

"He's my friend," Koyuki answered. "We live together. In the nine months you were away, I found him washed up on the beach while I was waiting for you. After I patched up his injuries, we got to know each other. Ever since, Dororo and I have been the best of friends!" she said with a smile.

Natsumi frowned a bit. She had always considered herself Koyuki's best friend, but she supposed it was good that the girl had someone to hang around that was actually there for her everyday.

"What about him?" Koyuki pointed to Giroro. "Who's he?"

"My conso-"

"Her prisoner," Giroro quickly cut in. "We encountered each other when I was freeing a slave ship. Turned out one of the slaves I freed was a pirate and... she captured me."

Koyuki frowned. "Really, Natsumi? Didn't he save you?"

Natsumi shrugged. "He was a bit of a jerk. And he hates pirates, so I gave him a job. He seems pretty willing to help me out now though, right Giroro? Mr. _Kill a guard to protect me_?"

Giroro blushed. "Sh-shut up."

Koyuki looked between them and giggled a bit. "Anyway, I really need your help with something super important. Will... Will you help me, Natsumi? I really messed up..." She looked rather worried.

Natsumi couldn't refuse. "Of course I will." She'd always help a friend in need. "What happened?"

Koyuki looked relieved. "Well, you know what my job is as a ninja, right? I protect the Nishizawa family. That's been my duty since birth. And I've been very good at it, but my latest task... It can only be done by a pirate."

Natsumi knew Koyuki was one of the sworn protectors of the Nishizawa family, the richest and most influential family in their nation. "Why only a pirate?"

"Because the Nishizawa heiress Momoka nine months ago went missing at sea," she explained. "I didn't go with her. It was just supposed to be a comfortable cruise on her yacht. A trusted captain was hired to look after her. But the boat she was on was attacked by pirates - rumored to be one of the Pirate Lords. Only wreckage was found... everybody was killed." She looked down.

"Then she's dead. There's nothing you can do," said Giroro.

"That's the thing. I don't think she's dead. She could have been captured. Her life is worth more than her death. She could be ransomed for quite a fortune," Koyuki explained. "So I need you to take me out to sea and find her. I need to rescue her, or else I risk execution from the Nishizawa family for my blunder of not protecting her. Please. Help me, Natsumi," she begged.

Natsumi's eyes widened. The Nishizawa heiress had been captured by pirates, likely a Pirate Lord? She had it on her list to attack the other Pirate Lords, but there was no better reason to go to war against them.

"I'll help you. I won't let you die," Natsumi vowed. She'd aid her friend. No matter what.

* * *

 **So in this chapter we've actually seen new characters such as Koyuki, Dororo and mentions of Momoka. That's good progress since all the other chapters have just been Giroro and Natsumi.**

 **My sister wanted me to have the pirates vs Ninjas thing.**

 **Please review.**


	8. Winter

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

 **They actually go to the third Pirate Lord this chapter!**

* * *

He'd only have to aid Saburo in killing one person. One person out of billions, and in his world, whoever this person was, they'd still be alive.

But Fuyuki couldn't stop his hand from shaking. He'd been lucky enough that the first Pirate Lord who had opposed Saburo was dead, defeated easily. But he doubted he'd be so lucky with this one.

All he wanted to do was study aliens. Could he really say he would be the same person after his encounter with watching someone get killed?

No. He wouldn't be the same. He wouldn't have been the Fuyuki who had entered the portal. It would be a life changing experience.

He had to stop this. Maybe he'd be able to talk to the new Pirate Lord, ask him kindly to step down. Give him a friendly speech. In his world, that usually worked. Maybe he could do the same in this one.

"Ku, you feeling better?" Kululu sat in front of Fuyuki, eating some curry. Fuyuki had a bowl of soup. Saburo had insisted he fill his stomach back up and regain his strength. Currently, Saburo was just getting back from giving orders to the rest of the crew, who usually tried to avoid Kululu like the plague. Fuyuki hadn't seen many of them.

"A little," Fuyuki nodded. "Are... Are we all really going through with killing this last Pirate Lord?"

"Yep! It's not that big of a deal. Honestly, Saburo's been trying to become the best pirate in the seas for a while. But he's a pretty non-confrontational guy. He's finally become determined to strike after watching the enemy from the shadows," Kululu explained. "Ku, ku, ku."

Saburo walked over to them and ruffled Fuyuki's hair. "Feeling better?" He sat down with them.

Fuyuki gave a weak nod.

"I didn't know you couldn't swim, Fuyuki. Does this ship bother you at all?" he asked.

"If it does, we could shake it a bit. Ku, ku, ku," Kululu laughed.

Fuyuki frowned. "I'm dealing. It's not ships that scare me. It's just that I can't swim." Honestly, he cared more about the imminent murder.

"It's okay to be unused to the sea. When Kululu first came aboard, he hated being here. You could see him skitter all over the place, wondering if it was safe. But he made all sorts of things to increase our safety," Saburo shared.

"Hey!" Kululu whined.

"But he's better now. Still hasn't learned to swim, but if he can handle being here, you can." Saburo smiled at him.

Fuyuki did feel a little better. Kululu seemed so tough, so hearing of one of his fears was rare.

Fuyuki sipped his soup. "Saburo?" he asked.

"Hm?"

"What are the Pirate Lords like? Even the one who's now dead...?" He wanted to know what they were going to come across. Know if maybe it wasn't so bad to kill them, if they had been a bad person to start with. Or if he could attempt to befriend them.

" 'Pirate Lord' is a relatively new title, so I haven't met all of them. I only met one in person. I mean, we pirates have only roamed the seas for about five years." He shrugged. "Although there were the rare pirates or boats before that. They had some real history behind them, but there were only a few, unlike the hundreds of pirates that roam today and rule the seas," he lectured.

Fuyuki was confused. So Saburo hadn't been a Pirate Lord for that long? "Were you a pirate before the five years when they become popular?"

Saburo shook his head. "I tried, but... honestly, the seas weren't a safe place. They were dangerous."

"Ku, ku, ku. Says you." Kululu started hurriedly eating curry, tuning out the conversation.

"Why weren't they safe?" Fuyuki asked.

"They were ruled by something else... Not a pirate. And it was - well, it's not important." Saburo hurriedly shook his head. "It's in the past. And that sort of stuff is best left buried." He glanced at Kululu. "But anyway, you asked about the other Pirate Lords! I've only met one, and she was pretty tough. I managed to sneaked away from her, though. She was the more experienced one, the one that's now defeated and we won't have to face," Saburo told him. "All the better. She had a nasty temper - a real warrior."

"What about the one that we're going to face?"

"Never met 'em. They're relatively new, although I've heard rumors about them and how they've suddenly become a Pirate Lord. I'm about to show them how tough being a Pirate Lord is, though." He rubbed his hands together.

Fuyuki frowned. So the new Pirate Lord was pretty much unknown.

Saburo turned to Kululu. "Hey, Kululu. Use that genius you have to make something that can get us to find the ship. A cool compass or something!"

"Ku. I'm hired to do surgeon work. Not invent things," said Kululu.

"Well, I'll pay you extra if you do it. I know you can," he said. "Please?"

"Fine. But only cuz you begged. Ku, ku, ku." He sighed and left to do work.

"Do the Pirate Lords also have cool powers like you? Do they have talismans that make their ships invisible?" Fuyuki asked, his eyes sparkling.

"I don't know about the new one. I've never seen their ship, but the Pirate Lord I sometimes fought was average in every way. She didn't have any mystical ship. Just a boring ship called Summer. Didn't do much," Saburo explained. Fuyuki looked disappointed.

The ship changed directions.

"Kululu must have made something to find their location," Saburo grinned. "Quick, as always." He was going to go congratulate him.

Fuyuki sighed. Soon they'd attack this poor sucker.

* * *

Kululu discussed plans with Saburo about how to trap the Pirate Lord. They eventually decided it was best to use their invisibility to maneuver into a swarm of rocks in the area and then board and attack the ship, find the Pirate Lord, and kill, taking their head as proof of their achievement.

Fuyuki tried to plug his ears, trying not to listen to the gruesome talk.

"Ku! According to my maps..." Kululu looked down at some software. "...they should be here soon. Let's lie in wait."

"You heard him! We're going to lie in wait and then we'll beat that Pirate Lord!" Saburo announced. The crew cheered. It was the most Fuyuki had seen of the crew.

They waited an hour for the ship to appear. It got darker, but not from it nightfall. From fog.

"Good weather for a surprise attack... I think I see the shape of the ship in the distance." Their ship started approaching the one in the clouds.

Fuyuki's mouth opened when he saw it approaching. It didn't look hazy once it had gotten out of the initial fog, but it did look cold, chilly, and distant.

"It's... it's floating..." he finally realized, pointing to the cloud of fog it rode on. He had thought that it was sailing through the water, but instead it was riding _on_ the fog.

"A ghost ship?!" Fuyuki smiled, unlike most of the crew, who was shaking. They had seen mystical ships - hell, they were riding on one! - but this was a whole another level of creepy. The only one who thought this ghost ship was cool was Fuyuki.

"Saburo..." Kululu tugged at his friend's arm, pointing at the ship. "You seeing what I'm seeing?"

"I-it's not possible." Saburo was frozen.

"I'm sure it's possible scientifically! I'm sure if I had my occult books on me, I could explain it!" Fuyuki grinned. "But I could give you some theories, if you want..." Saburo wasn't listening.

"Should... Should I steer closer, Captain?" The person at the wheel asked.

Saburo didn't speak. He was shaking. He grabbed the railing of the deck, gripping onto it. Kululu was just as frozen.

"Isn't it cool, guys? What a cool ship!" Fuyuki was ecstatic. He didn't know why they looked so frightened, like they'd seen a ghost or something.

"It's getting closer, captain. Should we fire cannonballs?" one of the crew asked.

Saburo gave a stiff nod. "Attack, before that bloody thing gets any closer."

"NO!" Kululu shouted, pulling Saburo away from the railing. "We can't attack! What if she's on it? That was _her_ ship, Saburo." Fuyuki could hear Kululu shaking from the cold. Even his glasses were cracking.

"Then... sail far away. We have to leave this area. That thing is dangerous. Sail fast and far!" Saburo ordered. Kululu gripped onto Saburo's leg.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing?" Kululu asked, shaking. He looked like he was about to cry. "We have to board. What if she's there? We have to - "

"We're leaving, Kululu. She's not there," Saburo told him stiffly, trying to snap Kululu out of it. Kululu glared and turned away.

"It's her ship," he said quietly again. Kululu tossed his map onto the floor and climbed up the ropes of the ship, as if to jump off. "We have to see her, we have to g-go to the ship. You can't just leave." He was about to jump.

In tales of the seas, Fuyuki had heard of this behavior of bewitchment. It was similar to men who had experienced sirens. But Kululu hadn't experienced that. He got ready to jump.

Saburo ran over to him and grabbed his legs as he let go. He plummeted down to the ship, bonking his head on the outer deck as he hung.

"Let me go!" Kululu yelled.

"I can't let you go. You'll die. You can't swim, Kululu. I'm not losing you. You're my friend. Be smart about this, use common sense," Saburo tried to reason with him.

Kululu kept struggling. Fuyuki helped grab his leg and they pulled him back on board.

As Kululu got back on the ship, he just threw himself into Saburo's arms, his body shaking as he cried. Saburo awkwardly put his arms around Kululu and the ship sailed out of the fog as fast as they could away from the previous ship.

* * *

Once they were out of sight, Saburo finally got up. "Check the crew's injuries, Kululu. We don't know what witchcraft that ship had."

Kululu stared at him blankly, but nodded. He walked off, his body slumped and limp from tiredness and cold.

Saburo weaved his fingers through his hair and sighed. "I'm going to my chambers." He quickly left.

Fuyuki remained confused. Wasn't the plan to attack the Pirate Lord? What just happened?

* * *

Fuyuki knocked first, but then opened the door to Saburo's chambers. Saburo was journaling in his captain's log about how the day went.

"Wh-what... What happened back there? Why did you leave?" he asked.

Saburo sighed and put down his pen. He spun around to face Fuyuki. "Did I ever tell you how my family died?"

Fuyuki shook his head. He hadn't even been aware that Saburo's family was dead.

"My family died in a tsunami. A tsunami hit the town I was living in, killing most of the populace. Buildings were crushed and orphans lived all over the place after that. It was terrible."

"I'm sorry - "

"But despite that, despite having nothing, I was drawn to the sea, the water," Saburo continued. "Tsunamis frightened me so much, but the water didn't. I wanted to control it. I wanted to be on it. I wanted to be something - a famed pirate. Not just a little orphan." He paused, clenching his fist. "I knew a pirate's life... Well, it was meant for me."

Fuyuki sat down on the floor, listening patiently. He wasn't sure what this had to do with the ghost ship, but he'd be a good, patient friend. He wanted to understand Saburo's pain.

"But back then, being a pirate was something only fools did. The sea was dangerous, as I said. Not many pirates dared to go out there. Hell, not many ships even dared. It was risky, something only fools did."

"What changed?" Fuyuki asked. "I mean, you're on the sea now."

"The thing that was ruling the waters... disappeared," he spoke. "And I think you already know where this story is going, what it's coming back to. The reason we left, and that ghost ship." He sighed. "What ruled the seas, Fuyuki, was that ship. It was the thing that terrified everyone, including me." He looked at him in distress. "It was supposed to be gone. It disappeared for years. But it's back." He frowned. "We wouldn't have stood a chance against it."

Fuyuki could see Saburo shaking. He was frightened of the ship. "So... _is_ it a ghost ship?" He tried not to let his eyes sparkle in excitement. This was the sort of cool pirate stuff that he had been waiting for!

Saburo laughed nervously for a moment. "I've heard rumors of such a thing. The ghosts of those killed by its owner possessing their own living corpses and being forced to serve on the ship to have a taste of life again. But I don't think it's really a ghost ship. It's just powerful. Kind of like my ship," he said.

"D-does... Does it have a name? An owner?" Fuyuki asked. "Sometimes it helps to humanize your fears."

Saburo smiled at him softly. "The ship's name is Winter... And its owner is..." He paused for a moment, dropping down to a whisper, for he was too afraid to even speak the name. "The Lord of Terror."

"Huh?" Fuyuki was taken aback. He knew instantly who Saburo was talking about. Or perhaps there was a second Lord of Terror.

"She was a terrifying being who ruled the seas. Not only did she have that ship, but she had the terrifying ability to create tsunamis through underwater earthquakes..."

Fuyuki frowned again. She sounded like she was just having fun pounding on the ocean ground and had accidentally ruined many people's lives. Oh, now he saw what tsunamis had to do with the story.

"She was powerful. Terrifying. But she was gone. Well... she's _supposed_ to be gone." Saburo shivered.

"You're talking about Mois, right?" Fuyuki asked.

Saburo's eyes widened. "H-how do you know her?"

"In my world, she lives in my house," he answered. Saburo twitched for a moment. "And she's not really like anything you described. She's actually a pretty nice and simple girl. She's super kind!" Fuyuki tried to make Saburo less afraid.

Saburo frowned. "I did hear on a personal basis she was quite kind. But to me, she was terrifying." He shook his head. He had learned, of course, that people thought of her kindly after her disappearance... her death.

"Well, it's weird of you knowing yet another person who's a big name in this world, but you won't have the opportunity to meet her. She died five years ago and her ship disappeared with her... But now it's come back." Saburo frowned.

Fuyuki nodded. So it was likely someone had stolen her ship. Unless it only obeyed her command. "Did you see her die?"

"I'll... I'll tell you the story another day," said Saburo. "It's not important... But someday maybe I'll tell you the answer to that question." He shook his head.

Fuyuki smiled. Maybe that day when Saburo trusted him enough to tell him would be soon. "So... can I ask you another question?"

Saburo nodded. "Shoot."

"Why was Kululu acting so strangely? I mean, he looked possessed. He broke down in sobs... Were there sirens on the ship?"

"Sirens are only in storybooks," Saburo laughed, but soon his laughing soon stopped. "No... it was for a different reason. Y'see, Fuyuki, remember when I told you not to mention lovers with Kululu because his is dead and it makes him unhappy to remember?"

Fuyuki nodded.

"Well... she, the Lord of Terror, was his lover."

Fuyuki's eyes widened. What? Mois and Kululu? They had been lovers at one time?

 _Yup. Okay. This world isn't real. Now I know that. This is way too weird._ Fuyuki cringed in disgust and shock. So that was what Kululu had meant when he said people didn't usually have the same relationship in every dimension. Or... was there something going on in his world...?

No. Ick. No reason to think too hard about that.

* * *

 **You all know this would get kurumois eventually. It's me.**

 **Please review.**


	9. Running Away

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Another Gironatsu chapter. Not much plot going on in this chapter, but development between the two of them.**

* * *

Koyuki had finally calmed down and was in her house with Dororo, gathering her things readying herself for her adventure with Natsumi.

Giroro pulled Natsumi aside away from them and out of their hearing distance. "I don't think she's alive. The Nishizawa heiress. She probably wasn't taken by pirates."

Natsumi crossed her arms. "Oh? What makes you say that? You've been all for pirates being evil previously," she told him. "Or are you saying my best friend is trying to trick me to go out on a mission to take out a Pirate Lord?"

Giroro shook his head. "I don't think she's trying to trick you. I think she's misinformed."

"What makes you more informed than her?" Natsumi asked suspiciously.

"Because I know Zeroro, or Dororo whatshisname." Giroro frowned. "The Keronian by her side. He was my old friend back when I lived in Keron."

"Good for you, seeing your old friend." Natsumi was impatient.

"You aren't listening, our old friendship isn't the point. He was an assassin that worked for the Keron empire. A top-notch assassin. He was usually sent to kill pirates, but - "

"So you're saying Koyuki wants to lure me out to sea so Dororo can kill me?" Natsumi raised a brow.

Giroro shook his head. "I didn't finish. Because of the uneasy tension between our two countries, Pekopon and Keron, he was sometimes sent to kill people highly important to Pekopon. I think he was sent to kill the Nishizawa heiress. I mean, admit it, him washing up around the time that she was attacked... doesn't sound a tad suspicious to you?"

Natsumi thought for a moment. Actually, Giroro was making a good point, and although Koyuki trusted this guy, Natsumi didn't know a thing about him, except that he had easily butted into Koyuki's life.

"I have to tell her. Koyuki probably doesn't know about his past," Natsumi realized. She had to confront him.

"No! Don't tell her. What if he _did_ do it and you get in trouble? I'm begging you, Natsumi, don't confront him!"

Natsumi stopped cracking her knuckles. She didn't answer. She'd let Giroro think what he wanted.

* * *

Koyuki was still packing quite a few supplies, so Natsumi and Giroro sat down for tea. Dororo politely poured them some.

"It's so nice to know that Giroro's off making friends!" he smiled. Natsumi frowned at him. She didn't trust him.

 _Don't confront him. Don't confront him. Don't confront him,_ Giroro begged in his head.

"I know you killed Momoka. Giroro told me about your past as an assassin, killing people important to my nation!" Natsumi accused. Dororo dropped his tea pot in shock.

Giroro sighed. She had done it.

"What?" Koyuki stood up. "Dororo would never do that!"

But Dororo had a solemn look on his face. "Back down, Lady Koyuki. What my old friend says about me is true. I did work as an assassin for Keron."

Natsumi's anger faded. He was fessing up to it? Weak.

"And as Giroro suspected, I was sent to assassinate Lady Momoka. I had hidden myself in her ship - "

Koyuki was distraught at the betrayal of Dororo's words. "No! It can't be!" She shook her head. Dororo was no killer.

"But I failed. I did not kill Momoka. As rumors said, and as Koyuki heard, we were attacked by pirates, one of the Pirate Lords themselves, in fact! Our ship was left in wreckage and she was taken aboard and captured." Dororo looked downwas. "They didn't know I was there so I survived. They forgot about me..." He cried a little bit. "I grabbed onto a board of the wreckage and eventually floated to, Koyuki, deeply injured. But you cared for me."

"So... then, you _were_ trying to kill Momoka, but the pirates really _do_ have her?" asked Natsumi. "I won't fall for that! Not from a Keronian!" She pointed accusingly at him.

"It is true. And I don't want you to fall for it." He shook his head. "I believe Lady Momoka is dead. It's unlikely she survived when she was taken by the Pirate Lord."

"I won't believe you!" Natsumi said again. "Giroro himself said you were an assassin!"

Dororo turned to Giroro and walked up to his old friend. He put his hand on his and smiled gently. "You have nothing to fear for your friend's safety, Giroro," he spoke. "I know you told her my past because you were worried for Lady Natsumi, were you not?"

"...No..." Giroro denied.

"Especially with my past of killing pirates," he went on. "But I no longer do that. I'm not an assassin. I want to live a more peaceful life by my friend Koyuki's side." He smiled softly. "She held no discrimination against me. Even though Keron told us Pekoponians were evil, she healed my injuries and and looked after me. She cares for me. And so I have given her my life."

"Aww... you know you don't have to give me anything, Dororo!" Koyuki said bashfully.

"But I want to! My life is yours!" he told her. A strong atmosphere of trust radiated from them.

Natsumi frowned.

"So... you're saying you left Keron? You left the military?" asked Giroro.

Dororo nodded. "Don't fight me on this matter, Giroro. But yes, I've made the choice to leave the army, just like you."

Giroro was enraged. "You shouldn't have left! The army is everything! And you're getting facts wrong if you think I left by choice. Leaving by choice... That's the most idiotic thing I've heard of."

Dororo tried to stay calm. "You did the right thing. And I respect you, even if you were fired dishonorably..."

At those words, Giroro's mouth twitched into a snarl. Natsumi expected him to attack Dororo in a moment's notice. But instead he turned around and ran out the door into the forest.

"Oh dear, he looked quite sad," Koyuki noted. "Is he okay?"

"I think he still regrets his choice of leaving. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it..." Dororo looked down.

Natsumi was confused, but she knew she had to chase after Giroro. She had mostly seen him angry, and act tough. But the expression on his face this time she had clearly seen had been hurt.

What was it that Giroro was hiding?

She bolted out the door to go to him. Not yet her friend, maybe her friend actually, but to comfort the Keronian anyway.

* * *

"Giroro! Giroro!" Natsumi called. She wasn't sure why she was looking for him. _I can't let him just mope, though. He looked really hurt._ And she was curious to know what had really gone on to make Giroro leave the nation he loved so much. Eventually, after wandering through the forest a bit more, she found Giroro moping under a tree. "Here you are!" she said.

Giroro turned around so she wouldn't see him sniffling.

She sat down next to him. "So... would it be too much of a breach of your personal space if I asked you what happened?"

Giroro wiped at his nose, wherever it was. "You mean how I was dishonorably fired?"

"Y-yeah... You seem pretty upset about it."

"And why would I tell an enemy?" he questioned.

"Maybe you want to talk about it. I talked to you about how I became a pirate, but you haven't really told me how you ended up where you were, a free agent liberating slave ships," she said. "I thought you were just pretentious, but there was a reason, wasn't there? What made you leave Keron?"

Giroro was silent for a moment. "You really thought I was pretentious? Was that why you were so silent?"

"I was trying to keep myself from insulting you," she confirmed. Giroro laughed for a moment. He never knew he would have appeared pretentious, but he also was slightly hurt. He had really tried his hardest.

"Okay, fine, I'll tell you how I was fired," he decided. "It actually involved the sort of things those Keronians were going to do with you."

Natsumi bit her lip. She wondered if she really wanted to hear it.

"The military was my life. My whole family was part of it, and as soon as I was able to, I joined. I trained my whole life to be in there," he began. "I was in the army for a while, and I was tough. Naturally, I went up in rank. But as I grew in rank, I was ordered by higher-ups to do worse and worse things to others - Keronians who disobeyed, Pekoponians, our prisoners, people we just didn't like. Really inhumane torturers. And eventually I was ordered to do something I couldn't rationalize, something I wouldm't ever be able to live with myself for. A slap on the wrist or executing a criminal was nothing compared to this." He looked down. "It was too inhumane for even words. And I refused to do it. So I was fired." He was quiet. "I wouldn't hurt someone in such an evil way."

Natsumi was quiet for a good long time. She squinted and then widened her eyes looking at him for who he really was. He acted tough a lot, but in actuality, there was nothing deep or complex about him. He was actually just a good person, like she had first seen. "But I don't understand. Why are you ashamed of that?" she wondered. "It was amazing for you to do that, to say no even if it meant getting in trouble. Standing up to something you admire and love, it's near impossible, Giroro. But you did it! There's no reason for you to feel ashamed." She smiled at him - _really_ smiled at him. She was proud.

Maybe he didn't deserve all the teasing she did to him and all the toughness she imposed on him. Maybe he shouldn't really be her prisoner.

"But you see, Natsumi, the problem isn't really that I refused. What I'm ashamed of and regret is for a moment I considered doing it," he confessed. "The army was my life. It was everything to me. My whole life I had trained to be a part of it... My whole family's expectations were on me. And I needed to please them. Even after the fact, turning my full back on Keron is impossible. I'll always be a Keron soldier at heart, even if they don't want me. Because that's what I was raised to do.

"What truly shames me is I still feel bad for how I was dishonorably fired. I was about to do it, until I realized how wrong it was. And that's why I feel ashamed. That's why I can never get rid of the regret," he explained.

"But... you did the right thing in the end!" she insisted.

"Did I? My family was ruined when I was discharged. My father became a drunken alcoholic to cope with my failure. My mother flat up divorced my dad and left, unable to deal with me. My brother... He wasn't too mad at me. He told me I made the right choice and that I was free of my obligation to the military and do anything I wanted. But being in the military was what I wanted. It was the only thing I knew," he told her.

"Well, at least your brother understood. And it's not your fault that your mom and dad were jerks to you..." Natsumi tried to comfort.

"I couldn't stand being back at home. Because the worst part was, I knew my beloved big brother that I admired so much was doing the same inhumane things that I refused to do. That he was a part of it, just loyally following orders. And since I had seen how terrible they were, I couldn't be around him. So I left. I ran away," he confided. "And to wipe away the sin of considering it for even a moment, I started freeing slave ships. I wanted to cleanse myself. Save people before they could get to Keron. I had freed a couple before you, but then I met you... And, well, you know the rest," he finished.

Natsumi listened carefully. He was filled with such regret. And what was the most deep and profound was that he still missed Keron. He had truthfully loved it.

"If you had a choice... would you have left the army?" she finally asked.

Giroro knew Natsumi would think less of him for his answer. She hated Keronians, especially their military. But his answer came from his heart, completely honest, as he looked at her tearfully. "No." He put his hands on his face, trying not to cry. He wanted to go home.

Natsumi put her arms around him and pulled him closer into a hug. She understood losing a home. If she had a choice, she would have stayed with her family, too. She didn't see Giroro as anything less. His emotions were so human.

Giroro struggled against her hug. "So the tough Pirate Lord is showing weakness now?" He knew he was crying, but he had to act tough. They were enemies. She shouldn't be showing him comfort or sympathy.

"Shut up. I'm comforting you," she told him. Giroro leaned in and accepted the hug.

* * *

They stayed out in the forest for the night, not returning to Koyuki.

"I don't want to see Dororo," Giroro admitted. "He willingly cast Keron aside. He made a choice... And here I am, still holding onto Keron. How could he cast it aside so easily?"

Natsumi wasn't sure. Maybe because Keron was awful. But she could see why Giroro was holding it against him.

"We can sleep out here. Don't worry," she told him, lying down in the soft grass. She hadn't let go of Giroro's hand from his crying. It was oddly comforting, holding his hand and just being real and human together, lying next to each other on the grass.

"You know, when I met you I thought you were strong," Giroro confided. "But you're more than strong. You're kind, even if you are a pirate. Kinder than all the members on your crew, and that includes me."

"So you've made peace with me?" she asked.

"I need to. After all, I'm your chief consort aren't I? You're my Keron now. You're my everything. Except you don't order me to do terrible things."

Natsumi smiled. Being his "everything" sounded sweet, but she didn't exactly like being put on Keron's level. "Maybe I'll let you do something other than the laundry, then. Like being my bodyguard."

"Like a soldier?" Giroro's eyes sparkled. He liked being a soldier.

Natsumi nodded. "But only if you're good! And say that you're worth more than Keron. You should be your _own_ 'everything.' Then you can devote a slice of that 'everything' to me."

Giroro looked at Natsumi for awhile, soaking up her words. "Deal. Just let me handle a gun when I'm being your bodyguard."

Natsumi laughed. "Sure."

And eventually the two fell asleep, under the stars still holding hands, forgetting to let go.

* * *

 **I hope you like it!**

 **Please review!**


	10. Looking Back

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **I'd just like to clarify about the last chapter. The thing they ordered Giroro to do was left vague because I didn't know what it was and was lazy, but I was going in the torture, execution direction with it. So I'd just like to clarify that.**

 **It's so long because it's the kurumois chapter. You all knew this was going to happen. I am sorry.**

* * *

He knew Saburo had warned him that if he mentioned anything to Kululu, he would be killed. But he was just so weirded out, so confused. Mois and Kululu? Really?

The Mois and Kululu in his dimension interacted, sure. They worked together sometimes, but Kululu was absolutely terrified of her. It was pretty well known and he imagined that Mois's opinion of Kululu was just a certain level of innocent tolerance.

Them dating in any dimension just seemed so surreal to him. And her being dead seemed even weirder.

He was sitting down by some barrels as Kululu passed him, and although he had promised not to mention anything, he did.

"You dated Mois?" His voice was incredulous, confused, and accusing at the same time. Kululu took a step back, sputtering for a moment.

"F-Fuyuki!" Saburo pulled out his knife, offended that Fuyuki had disobeyed him. Kululu glanced at Saburo, realizing that Saburo must have told him.

"Wh-what's it to you?" Kululu asked to try to regain his composure, glaring at both Fuyuki and Saburo.

"Well, it's just... as you know, I'm from a different dimension and I'm just a little confused... I knew Mois back there. She's a friend of mine." Fuyuki stumbled over his words.

Kululu stopped glaring. "She's your friend?" He lowered his hand, as if telling Saburo to put his knife away. Unhappily, he did so. Maybe this would be good for Kululu, talking to someone who didn't hate her.

"Yes." Fuyuki nodded.

"I-is... Is she okay? I mean in your dimension, is she... alive and well? Happy?" His voice was very quiet at the thought of his old girlfriend being in another dimension. It soothed him. She was no longer in his dimension, after all.

"Yes. She's fine. She's quite happy," said Fuyuki. "You two work together."

Kululu smiled. He'd be jealous of his other self, but Fuyuki had said it himself, Mois was happy and that was what mattered. He gave a small nod and sat down, soothed by even that little bit of information.

"Yeah. Mois and I were lovers," he finally told him after getting a far-off look. These words still shocked Fuyuki. "But that's not as important as your world. Tell me about it. Are Mois and I... Were we in love?"

Fuyuki tried not to make a very dramatic expression at the question. He never thought he'd hear from Kululu's mouth a question like that.

 _What can I tell him? No? He'd look so sad..._ He decided that sometimes a white lie was the best one. Telling him that Angol Mois was actually in love with someone else and that Kululu was terrified of her wouldn't do the best. Even if it had been Kululu himself who told him, it wasn't likely that people had the same relationships in different universes. "Yeah! Of course you're in love!" he said with a smile. Hopefully, the real Kululu would never learn about the lies he was spouting. He'd be dead before Kululu could even finish his laugh.

The Kululu in front of him smiled. "Ku, ku, ku. That's good." He sighed. "I guess now that you know, there's no reason to hide it. I'll tell you whatever you want about her ship and her, and maybe, just maybe we can all figure out how to beat it and take it from whoever likely stole it from her."

Fuyuki nodded. "I think you better just go over how the ship works and where it came from."

"Ku. The simple things like mechanics. I like it." He nodded. "Anyway Mois's people weren't Keronians or Pekoponians - "

"Angolians. They were Angolians," Fuyuki remembered.

"Correct. They were something called Angolians that belonged to no nation, and instead were aligned closely with the Gods..."

Fuyuki scratched his head. So magic and mythology and gods were in this world, too. He wondered if they were the thing that gave Saburo's talisman the power to make his ship invisible.

"Mois had an important job to make underwater earthquakes and new volcanoes, which they liked. So they granted her a ship to live in and make her work easier that would follow only her bidding," Kululu explained.

"She was a little overboard on the underwater earthquake thing though, wasn't she?" Saburo muttered to himself. He didn't remember any other Angolians that were that extreme. Kululu ignored him.

"It had the power to imprison lives that she had killed on land or on sea to work on the ship for her. They would possess their own corpses, kind of like ghosts, but with living material around them. And they had to follow her bidding and didn't require pay. It was pretty neat, if I do say so myself. Ku, ku, ku."

"So it was a ghost ship?" Fuyuki's eyes sparkled.

"Kind of. It floated on a sea of fog instead of the water. It really struck terror in people's hearts. When they saw her ship, 'Winter,' coming, they ran. I never went on it myself because when we were together I insisted on staying as far away from the water as possible, but she told me a bit about it," Kululu explained. Fuyuki scooted closer, listening intently.

Saburo cleared his throat. He was glad that his friend was finally talking about his history with Mois and in such a cheerful tone instead of just freezing up and crying, but he was a little curious himself about things that Kululu had never had the courage to tell him about. Mainly why they had fallen in love because he was still confused about it.

"Hey, umm... Buddy? If you're finally ready to talk about her, mind telling us about, you know the reason you and her were close?" He took a deep breath. "Before I met you, I'd just been terrified of the rumors of her, and I'd like... I'd like to know who she really was. The her _you_ knew."

Kululu thought for a moment, but finally he nodded. "I guess I never told you before, and if it would help shed some light on how to defeat her ship, I'll do it."

Fuyuki was also a tiny bit curious about their history so he listened, but not as closely as he had with the ghost ship.

"It was before I was a pirate, before I met Saburo, long, long ago when I lived in a comfortable town as a surgeon..."

And soon Kululu had gone into a tale.

* * *

He hadn't been any surgeon. He had been an experimental surgeon. His job was simple - help people with extreme injuries or conditions by performing surgery. And he was good at his job.

There was just one problem - helping people. Kululu didn't enjoy helping people, instead he liked melding organs together. Liver and heart? Thought they couldn't work together, but after meshing them, you'd be wrong. Of course, some disgusting extreme conditions came with the procedure. The patients were usually monsters. And all Kululu did was laugh.

For some reason, most people didn't go to his medical bay. They avoided him best they could.

* * *

"I wonder why, Kululu." Fuyuki rolled his eyes sarcastically. He wasn't sure what this had to do with anything, but it frightened him to think about how Kululu turned people into monsters. It sounded a lot like him. No wonder most of the crew avoided him.

"What does this have to do with Mois? This is just _your_ backstory," Saburo pointed out.

"Patience, patience," Kululu told them. "Ku, ku, ku. It gets to her eventually, but it's important to know my background."

Fuyuki didn't know if he wanted to hear Kululu's background.

* * *

It took years for it to finally happen, for all of the customers to stop coming to him, but finally Kululu was going out of business. He was dirt poor and that meant he couldn't buy the finer things in life, like curry.

He didn't know if people didn't come to his business because they were scared of becoming monsters or because he was dislikable. A little of both.

But being financial unstable, and having your namesake, your surgery office, going out of business was devastating. It was his purpose, the thing he was good at and liked doing. He hated his new situation.

Rumors were all around his city about him. He was like the freak that people just kind of laughed about. He could have been a threat years ago when he was in business, but now he was just a freak.

"I heard he's a quack." He heard people talking about him at the supermarket.

Kululu boiled in rage at the accusation. Out of all the things he wasn't, quack was at the top. He actually knew what he was doing and was good at his job if he tried.

"I heard he's a witch doctor aligned with the devil," someone else spoke.

That rumor wasn't nearly as bad. But it was still bad for business.

"I heard he _is_ the devil!" said another.

Kululu glared. Maybe he would have to make his surgeries half-off to finally get business.

"It's too bad he's the only doctor in town," said another.

 _Ku! Yeah. They have to come to me. I'm the only doctor here..._ Kululu thought to himself.

"The richer people in town can just go across the country to that nicer and better doctor. What was her name? Pururu? She's so kind!" said another.

Kululu's brow furrowed. His rival in the medical field was Pururu, a sweet Keronian who got loads of customers. She was a medic and doctor, but not a surgeon.

If someone wanted a limb removed, it was best for them to come to him, but everything else Pururu covered. But man, could he chop off a limb nicely.

Kululu frowned as they talked about Pururu. All his normal customers had invested into moving to the town with Pururu. The rich could afford that.

And his customers dried up.

 _If only... If only the people in this town were forced to come to my surgery place. If we were attacked by the Pekoponians or some natural disaster. Then I could have business again. I could prove myself,_ thought Kululu.

No, he prayed to himself. Because he was in a deep dark hole of poverty. And he didn't want to have to quit doing the thing he loved and using his skills. But nobody was there for him. Nobody would come to his business.

* * *

"Wait... Wait a minute... Don't tell me you met Mois because she caused a natural disaster and forced people to come pay you to save their lives?" Saburo was disgusted.

"Ku, ku, ku. Yep!" Kululu smiled.

"People died in those tsunamis. My family died! And you liked her because she hurt enough people that they'd be forced to ask for surgery from you?" Saburo asked, shocked.

Kululu shrugged. "I'm just telling you how we met."

Fuyuki's face was blank. This sounded strangely accurate of how Kululu could fall in love with Angol Mois. Kululu in his world would have probably said, "sounds like me," and been done with it.

* * *

One day, a tsunami hit his town. People's lives and houses were ruined. Injuries and fatalities were all over the place.

It was Kululu's wonderland. But it was deeper than that. He didn't have a home to lose from the tsunami, so he would have died weeks later from lack of money and starvation. He hadn't eaten in days because of poverty. His business was all he had left, and he would have gone bankrupt the next day.

He hadn't had anything to lose from the tsunami. He hadn't fought back against it. But once it was over, someone came to him with money and begged him for surgery. Their arm had been crushed by rubble and they needed it removed.

Kululu grinned. "I can fix that. Ku, ku, ku." He happily helped everybody who came to him, which was a lot of people. Everybody had been ruined from this tsunami except him. But after a day of tough work, his business was credible from the populace. Overnight it turned into the light that saved their lives, and they all praised him.

Not only that, but he had the bodies of the dead to play with and meld into whatever he wanted. He could Frankenstein them into experiments, save the people alive, and get money.

The populace praised him as a hero who had saved them from the tsunami. They trusted him, but secretly, he praised the tsunami, the thing that had brought his business back to life, and brought him life back together.

 _Ku, ku, ku. The tsunami wasn't too bad. It definitely helped me._ Kululu didn't want to show much of his emotions, but really the financial instability and poverty he had experienced had frightened him. He had been so hungry, so alone, as he drifted in the water of the tsunami. But the water that he feared had come to his town and saved him.

 _Thanks, tsunami._ He knew the tsunami wasn't sentient, but he thanked it anyway.

* * *

He never forgot his debt to the tsunami. And it was no more than a few days later that he heard rumors of what had caused it.

"She's a goddess, I heard. But not the good kind. She just causes tsunamis any way she wants." He heard rumors about it, the goddess that had devastated their little inland town.

 _Ku, people are always trying to come up with an explanation for the easily explainable. Explain it through mythology and lore. It's dumb. Just like those occult maniacs,_ he thought to himself. He didn't believe in the goddess, that she had caused this tsunami. But Kululu now had many tsunami victims coming to him now that he was a credible surgeon. He was better with life-threatening injuries than Pururu. They knew he could deal with tsunami victims.

And each and every one of them told him the same story about the goddess, the only word the inlanders had for her, who caused tsunamis.

"She has three eyes and a million arms. She's pure evil."

"People say she's in charge of a ghost ship that floats on fog."

"She's the Lord of Terror. Why else would she cause these tsunamis?".

And before too long, Kululu was falling for their stories. He doubted she was real, but the mythology that they made up about her... He was slowly starting to believe it.

And unlike the rest, who were scared, he was thankful. _Maybe she's the same as me. Just misunderstood. People don't get MY monster surgeries, after all. They say I'm some dangerous creature. Maybe she just wants to have a little fun,_ he thought to himself. That was how the first thought started, drawing similarities between them.

He kept insisting that he was a realist and didn't believe in her, just drew little pictures and made little shrines over ironic fun, but the floodgate was open. He was a full secret fan of this supposed Lord of Terror. He didn't know anything about her except the lore, but slowly he started falling for whatever the lore told him.

 _She's not real,_ he told himself as he drew pictures and tried to make up little stories about her and how she had made the tsunami that saved his life. _She's an imaginary mechanism that people have made to cope with the expanded natural disasters._ He prayed at a little shrine for her.

Nobody would know of his secret obsession with her.

But one day a pirate came into his domain, bruised up by an intense battle.

"I didn't know pirates ever came back to the inland. I thought they mostly died out on sea." Kululu looked at the pirate - a Viper. The Viper growled.

"I got into a battle with the Lord of Terror of the sea. I'm not going back out there... I was the only one who survived out of my crew. I need you to patch me up," he told him.

Kululu's interest was piqued. "Fine. But that takes gold." The Viper paid him. "The Lord of Terror isn't real, you know. She's just some stupid made-up myth. I'm sure sailors say all sorts of dumb stuff like that."

"She is real! I saw her. Her ship sailed in on the fog, and her battle cry... It was a stupid idiom! Out of all the declarations of war she could have shouted... No. Just an idiom. So my crew attacked, and we were quickly slain," the Viper explained.

Kululu looked like he was in shock. Was she real? Or was this just a myth? Had the Viper hallucinated? He had never heard people encountering her, just people talking about others who had seen her. And he had never heard the idiom thing. Kululu patched him up.

"Did she have a million arms like a spider? Three eyes? What did she look like?" Kululu asked.

"Just a girl. Two arms, two legs." Well, that threw out a lot of Kululu's theories. "She looked like a Pekoponian... Had their build. But her clothing was out of this world... And she had a weapon she called her 'Lucifer Spear,' " said the Viper.

Kululu listened closely. But once the Viper was patched up, he was slightly more convinced that she was real.

But he wanted to see her, or at least talk to her.

* * *

There was hope in him, although he was still a bit pessimistic that she was real. He went to the beach one day. The wreckage of his town had finally been cleaned up. He didn't like walking along the beach, since the water scared him. Out of all the Keronians, he was the only one who'd never gotten the knack for swimming. He was weaker than them.

The water had never enchanted him like it had so many others. He knew he would drown from it. But she was out there.

He wrote a letter.

 _Dear Lord of Terror, if that is your name,_

 _I don't know if you get many mortals giving you letters. Just stupid people who probably aren't worth your time, but I'm going to try anyway._

 _I suppose I wanted to thank you for all you've done. Although I dislike the water, tsunamis are pretty cool. Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself._

 _I just wanted to tell you about me, and about what you've done for me. I'm a surgeon who ran a failing business. I was poor and dying from lack of food because I didn't have any money and no skills to steal. People called me a heartless quack, but I still didn't want to die. Then your tsunami came, and for the first time in months, it drew people to my business. I didn't die that day. But I knew it wasn't because of me. It was because of you and your tsunami._

 _I think it was a wonderful creation, a deadly beauty. My prayers had been answered when your natural disaster hit and I became enamored by it. Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself again._

 _I just wanted to thank you. So thanks! It means a lot to me. You saved my life and stuff.  
_

 _I'm sure you get this from a bunch of boring mortal guys, though._

 _Love_ \- he crossed it out and wrote - _Gratefully,_

 _Kululu._

He looked at his letter. He doubted she'd ever read it or even existed, but he wanted to send it to her. He hoped she didn't think he was weird. He stuffed the letter in a bottle and threw it out to sea.

And then he left. It was stupid, what he had done, and he doubted she'd ever see it.

* * *

When he went out to the beach the next week, he found his bottle back on the shore. He picked it up. _Must have come back from the waves. Pathetic._ He opened it up, but to his surprise, his letter wasn't in there. Instead, it was a new letter with flowery parchment and neat handwriting.

 _Dear Kululu,_

 _Thank you so much for your words! I was just out at sea and I saw a bottle in the water. You could say, coincidence? I picked it up and I was more than surprised when it was addressed to me. I held it closely and wondered if it could be fate._

 _I had no idea that anyone actually liked my tsunamis! (Doesn't mean I'm going to stop them, though! They're really fun! Do you have anything you find fun like that?)_

 _It meant a lot to me, your letter. I've never gotten a letter, much less one that thanks me. Truth be told, I'm rather lonely out here. Not many people seem to like tsunamis and underwater volcanoes. They're all terrified of me._

 _Sometimes I get sad that I'm so lonely. But today, I'm not. Because you're out there and you're thankful and that means so much to me! It was really super sweet, so thank you!_

 _Sincerely,_

 _Angol Mois (I do enjoy the title Lord of Terror, but you can call me Mois. It's easier.)_

Kululu's hands were shaking as he read the letter over and over again. She was real! And much more surprising, she had read his letter and loved it!

He covered his face and then read her words over and over again. All the lore, the mythology about this goddess, was real. And she had contacted him. And thought he was sweet.

He grinned, despite himself, and wrote another letter.

And that was how their correspondence started.

* * *

He worshiped her and thought she was amazing. For several months now, he had been talking to her over bottled messages. She sounded so sweet and humble, but he knew she was some amazing goddess. He felt so proud of every message he received and just took it straight to his ego whenever she said how much she cared about his messages. He had never seen her face, never heard her voice, but he was madly in love with her.

 _Ku. Not too bad; it's not too surreal for some mortal guy like me to fall in love with a goddess like her,_ he thought to himself. He was just so confused how sweet she was, although she did enjoy hearing about his little monster surgeries.

 _Mois. You're way higher than me. I wonder when you'll tire of me?_

They talked about all sorts of things, less like the typical mortal guy who had fallen for a sea goddess and more like pen-pals and friends. She talked about her love of earthquakes, and he his love of experimenting on living beings. She was non-judgmental about it. He even wrote her down some fairy tales from his town, since she had expressed an interest in it.

On braver, more drunken days, he even sent her love poetry to express his deep worship of such a powerful sea goddess. And he told himself that that was the sole reason. Just that, not that he had totally fallen in love with her for being her. Every message he got learning more about her seemed to make him fall deeper in love. _She's poisoned me with her goddess powers,_ he realized. But each time he sent love poems she seemed pretty happy about it and told him how much they had made her blush.

He decided to finally tell her about his feelings for her, she already knew about them enough. He had implied them and flirted with her a ton. But he wanted to be done with this pathetic mortal display, plead like was classic with a goddess to meet him, and get terribly rejected.

That way he could worship her in peace and knew where they stood.

 _Dearest Mois,_

 _I know it's very improper of me to ask, but I want to see you. For real. I've heard tales about people like me who fall in love with amazing people like you being driven mad, jumping into the ocean for example to see you, and probably dying. I don't really feel like dying, though. Sorry._

 _I just want to see you. I know my love for you is deeply one-sided. But it's here and it's real. I love you more than anything, and I want to see your face just once. I try to imagine it - is it yellow like mine? What color are your eyes? Your hair? I don't know._

 _It's okay if you don't want to meet. I will understand, and I'll probably devote my life to some shrine of you. Crud, I really am the grossly typical mortal guy who's fallen in love, aren't I? Ku, ku, ku. That's kind of funny._

 _Anyway, I just wanted to express my interest to meet you. Just once._

 _Love,_

 _Kululu._

He sent his letter and waited for a polite rejection.

* * *

Instead a tsunami hit his town again. _Well, that's not the polite rejection I was looking for,_ Kululu thought. But the tsunami was odd.

It hit every house except for his, making a gap and moving around his house. Like he was special.

Of course, after the tsunami, many victims came in to get fixed up, but the weirdest of the victims was definitely the girl who walked in with not a scratch on her.

"Um... I may have gotten the wrong address. It was hard to ask for directions because a lot of people were dead... but does Kululu live here?" she asked. She had silver hair like moonlight and the most beautiful golden eyes. Her skin was fair and she was dressed in shiny purple clothing decked out in different layers that were of no style he had ever seen.

She looked like a goddess. She was that beautiful.

"Yes. Ku, ku, ku. But you don't look too injured, miss. What is it you need?" heu asked.

"Are you the one who sent me all those bottles?" she asked. Kululu looked at her in shock. She was Mois? The Lord of Terror? She had done what he had asked and come to him?

She was so much cuter than he had ever imagined. For a full minute he stared at her. Then he fainted.

* * *

When he woke up, she was staring at him. "Wh-what are you doing here, Mois?" he asked. He hoped he was pronouncing it right.

"You asked to see me," she told him, simply, handing him her letter. "So I came."

He unfolded the letter she had handed him. Why didn't she just write to him whatever she needed to say?

 _I love you too, Kululu,_ read the letter in big letters. And he was greeted by a light kiss on the cheek.

He could believe in goddesses, the surreality of her powers, and her existence. But what he couldn't believe was how pure, innocent, and cute she was.

It wasn't even meant for the world of gods. He just rubbed his cheek, wondering how he had met her and landed her to be with him. And how someone could be that incredibly sparkly.

* * *

They lived in sin for a good long while. She kind of moved in with him as his lover, completely happy to just fall into the role of his girlfriend, spending time with him and learning more about the inland world as he explained it to her. She was always incredibly affectionate, so affectionate he knew he was going to die, but still he was insecure.

He always believed he was just a passing mortal fling to her, that this was temporary and she'd leave eventually. She was too good for him.

"Don't be like that, Kululu," she'd try to reassure him, "I love you lots and lots. And I'm not too good for you. I'm not even a goddess, my people just work with the Gods. It's a big difference. I'm not immortal."

But he didn't believe her. She had to be a goddess. She had to be.

* * *

Their relationship was a little bumpy because of Kululu's utter refusal to stop worshipping her and putting her on this high pedestal. He would get her tons of gifts and shower her in things like a princess, but usually he didn't initiate kisses or acts between them. He didn't touch her like if did, he'd be burned. He told her how amazing she was, but didn't kiss.

Not only that, but whenever she kissed him lightly or looked at him, he'd just fall on the ground and die.

"Why won't you court me like couples normally do, Kululu?" Mois asked. "Why won't you ever initiate kisses with me?"

"If I touched you it would taint you. You're too pure for my hands," he told her simply

"Kululu we've had sex."

"Um."

She rolled her eyes. Why was Kululu so over-dramatic about little things? He was totally fine with bigger things.

"Well, uhh... In stories, it's completely fine for mortals and goddesses to do it because it's just a passing fling sort of thing and - " he trailed off.

Another eye roll from Mois. Maybe she should subtly misplace all those Greek myths he was reading. "I'm not a goddess. I'm just a normal person. And I want you to treat me like an equal."

Kululu looked concerned. "Am I not treating you well enough?"

"No! You're treating me _too_ well! You aren't caring about your own concerns because you've put yourself lower than me. I want to be equal with you, in a happy relationship that's not unbalanced." She snuggled up to him. "I care about you just as much as you care about me."

Kululu doubted that. She didn't die when he looked at her. "I'm not worshipping you because you're a goddess, Mois. I've learned that you're not. Although you really should be. Is there a test or something you can take to get the goddess title?"

Mois shook her head.

"Anyway, I worship you and always have because you're _you_. You're the purest, most amazing, cutest thing in the world. And I treasure you." He let her nuzzle up against him.

"But I want you to treasure you, too. I want you to not be so insecure in our relationship, like I'll leave you or something. I love you so much, I want to be with you forever," she reminded him.

Kululu frowned. He wasn't _really_ that insecure about their relationship, was he? But he slowly started realizing that he was, and there was a problem. He did think that she'd leave him at any time.

She had to leave a lot for work, anyway, sometimes for weeks at a time. And since it was out on the sea, Kululu couldn't come with her. It was the only thing he wouldn't do for her, go out on the water. Although she had asked if he wanted to come with to see her start a tsunami, he was just too frightened.

He'd never get rid of his fear of water, and because of that, sometimes he got worried Mois would never come back from the sea.

* * *

Mois was the most perfect person that Kululu could have asked for. On land she lived as his surgeon assistant and lover, and on the waters she lived as the Lord of Terror.

But one day, she did get into a fight with him. It was the last day he ever saw her. He had never once considered that she would be insecure with their relationship or had any worries or faults of her own. But her concerns finally bubbled out of her mouth as she looked at him worriedly and the shrine he had made to her.

"Do you really love me, Kululu?" she almost shouted in despair.

"Of course I do. Why would you think I didn't?" He had never heard that question before. How could Mois even question his devotion to her? He worshiped so very much, he loved every little bit of her, even her naive, confused faults.

"It's just... sometimes it seems like you don't, " she confessed.

"I can fix that. Do you want me to make you something? A gift to prove it?" Kululu was hurt that she even questioned his love. But he knew objects fixed everything. They were better than words, because they were eternal.

"I don't want a gift!" she shouted. "I want the truth. And I've finally realized why you won't put yourself as equal to me, why we can't be a real couple. Why you're always talking about this as temporary."

"Because I worship you?" He tried to hold her hand to calm her down, but she was shaking too hard.

"Yes," she spoke. "You're not in love with me. You're in love with a fantasy version of me," she accused. "You were probably chasing a fantasy because you were lonely. You probably have been, ever since that first letter. I mean, you told me yourself, right? You put 'love' on the letter and crossed it out, but that's not possible. You didn't know me. You couldn't be in love with me. You were in love with what I stood for. Tsunamis," she told him quietly.

Kululu's mouth opened a little. That was slightly true, but every letter he had read, every moment she had been with him, he had fallen more in love with her, learned more about her, until he finally saw the real her when they were living together. He was so shocked that she was insecure about this, but more shocked that it was slightly true.

She waited for reassurance that it wasn't true.

"Mois, I do love you!" he insisted. "More than anything. Why would I not? You're perfect. Don't be insecure about this, please..." He begged.

"But I don't want to be perfect," she told him quietly, "I want to be real. I want to be someone that you see all of, even my faults. I want you to love even those, so I know you'll be with me forever and won't just fall out of love. But how can you love them when you don't even see them?"

Kululu was quiet. "Well, what about you!" He didn't know how to respond to her accusation "You don't love all of me, I bet." He had tons of faults. He put curry in the milk carton and drank out of it.

"I do. I love all of you, even your faults. And I do see them, but I love them anyway. I never saw you as any less than me; I always saw you as an equal. I never saw me living with you as a temporary arrangement. I saw it as real, because I loved you so much. The only possible reason it won't last would be because you _think_ it's not going to last." She was on the verge of tears. "I wonder if, after you feel like I've had my fill of you and could go on to other things, you would have moved on and found someone you _could_ find equal. And fallen in _real_ love with them."

She was crying now. Kululu tried to brush off her tears, but what else could he say besides a thousand "I love you"s? She was halfway right, but he knew he would never stop loving her. And he was sure that he didn't love a fantasy of her, but he had previously, so it was hard to distinguish. After all, he was always so sure she'd leave him and he'd have to go back to just fantasizing about her.

"Mois, I... I wouldn't find someone else," was all that he could choke out. She shook her head and got up.

"I need to go," she told him.

"What? You're leaving?" She couldn't leave him. He didn't want them to end like this. But at the same time, his insecurity knew she would, and she'd be gone soon from his life unless he did something to win her over.

But he couldn't think of anything. He just stood there.

"I'll be home soon," she told him. "I'm not leaving for good. Although I'm sure that's what you're thinking." Her voice sounded a little irritated. "And... you didn't even try to stop me... No, I'm leaving for work. To cause some tsunamis. You probably don't want to come."

"That's one thing I can't do for you, Mois. Going out to sea."

"I know." She turned away, without giving Kululu her usual kiss good-bye.

"I love you. Come home soon," he told her.

"But to you... is this really my home? Or do you expect me to leave someday?" she asked him over her shoulder. "And can you say you really love me? If you can accept that I'd be gone and our love together is temporary and it wouldn't leave a hole in your heart, I don't think you could."

And Kululu couldn't. Because in the back of his head, he had prepared himself for her leaving ever since she had walked into his life. So the hole in his heart that her being gone would cause would be easily repaired, he always assumed. He'd always love her, but her being gone would be predictable.

And she walked out.

He never saw her again.

* * *

"Mois... she never returned after our fight," Kululu finished.

"So... she still might be out there? Ruling her ship?" Fuyuki asked. Kululu had been pretty pathetic in that story, but it had also been kind of sad, the ending. Juggling relationship stuff was hard.

Saburo just had a sad look on his face. "If she had come back, what do you think would happen?"

"I'd have hugged her and kissed her and told her I never wanted her to leave. But I never took the opportunity to do that. And... I only realized I wanted to do that after I assumed she left me and wasn't coming back. But... I was a real idiot. She was the one having real human emotions, being insecure and I did nothing. I loved her, I really did, and it was real love the sort of stuff she wanted, but after she was gone I did half of what she predicted. I found you, Saburo, and I suppose our friendship is much more equal than our relationship was." He sighed. "But that hole in my heart... it never repaired like I thought it would."

"How do you know she's not coming back?" Fuyuki asked.

"Because I learned she didn't leave me. She died at sea," he said. "It was the first time I met Saburo..."

* * *

Angol Mois hadn't come back. And for some reason, there was a new surge in pirates.

"Yo!" Saburo walked into Kululu's surgeon laboratory.

Kululu was down in the dumps. Mois hadn't returned, and a part of him new she was gone.

"I heard you're the best surgeon in these parts..." Saburo told him.

"What about it?" Kululu was grumpy. "You don't look injured. What do you need?"

"I'm a pirate. The best in the sea," Saburo bragged. "And I need a surgeon on my ship. I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining my crew. I've heard great things about you," he smiled.

Kululu slapped his hand away that was reaching to shake his. "No thank you. I'm no fan of water."

"Can't swim?" Saburo asked. "Or are you just afraid?"

Kululu frowned. It was both. "I'll never be a pirate." He paused, "Wait, what's a pirate like you doing fine anyway? I thought most pirates came back pretty injured from their trips on sea or ready to quit because of the lord of terror."

Saburo beamed. "So you've heard about her?" He picked his teeth with a toothpick. "Yeah, she was a terrifying one. But haven't you heard the latest news?"

"What news?"

"She died at sea. Doesn't roam the waters anymore," Saburo answered simply.

Kululu gripped the edge of his table to steady himself. Mois... was dead? She hadn't left him, she had just _died_?

 _No... no, that can't be,_ he thought to himself. Mois couldn't be dead. She was too pure, too innocent, too amazing. She couldn't have died. He sweated in grief and terror. He wanted to scream and cry. Instead, he was just silent.

"How?" he asked.

Saburo shrugged. "I don't know."

Kululu looked at Saburo for a good long time, wondering if he was lying. "Sh-she can't be."

"Why not? She was rumored to be pretty strong, but I guess she was mortal just like the rest of us."

"NO!" Kululu couldn't believe it. His Mois, she couldn't be dead. He wanted to see her smiling face again. _I didn't even tell her how wrong she was. How much I really did love her. I didn't even kiss her good-bye._ "She said she'd come back home. We were going to talk - " He started to cry.

Saburo looked at him wide eyed. "Y-you knew her? B-but that can't be... I thought she was evil..."

"She was not! She was a sweet girl! She didn't deserve to die! I loved her more than anything, and I didn't show it to her." He felt so bad. "Leave, I'm closed for the day."

Saburo nodded. "I won't press you on the job anymore. If it means anything to you, uhhh... I'm sorry," he told him before leaving.

And Kululu cried for many hours. But then he researched.

* * *

"You're going to get into this, Kululu?" Saburo asked.

"I'm sure the kid wants to hear more mythology." He shrugged. "You want to hear how I actually joined the pirates?"

"Shouldn't you leave it off on a cliffhanger or something - "

"Nah, I'm going to tell you everything!"

* * *

Saburo was just about to leave port when Kululu hurriedly ran up to him.

"I'll join your crew," he told him.

"I thought you hated water," Saburo recalled.

"I do. But... being on a ship is something I never did for her. Being on sea," he told him. "I'll join your crew and be your ship surgeon on one condition. I need you to take me someplace."

"Where?" Saburo asked, a bit interested. This guy was haggling.

Kululu held up a book filled with mythology. "If she died on the sea, her soul was brought to the Land of the Dead. There lies a god that handles souls who died at sea and rules over them. I've tried to research how to get there and it's clear that the only way to reach it is via boat. Therefore, if I want to bring her back, I have to use a boat."

"You sure know a lot about death," Saburo commented.

"I play with it everyday," Kululu nodded. "So, are you a pirate looking for adventure?"

Saburo thought for a moment. Then he nodded. "I'll help you bring her back." He hadn't known that there was a reason she shouldn't die. That someone would miss her. "Welcome aboard."

* * *

"We went on a huge journey across the sea to reach the Land of the Dead, where we'd find the god who handled souls lost at sea. We bonded and became the friends we were today. Ku, ku, ku. Best part of the story." Kululu bro-fisted Saburo.

"Agreed," Saburo smiled. "It took months to get there. But we did."

* * *

"I'll go in alone. You're a pretty cool guy, so if something goes wrong, I don't want to lose you," Kululu told him, looking into a deep cavern with a staircase into the underworld.

Saburo nodded. They were at the end of the world. "Good luck."

And Kululu went down the staircase.

Finally, he reached the god who had been appointed to watch those who died at sea. He couldn't see his face or his figure, he just stood in a brown cloak.

"Who are you, mortal? And what are you doing here?" The god sounded bored.

"I'm here to get back Mois. Give her to me and I'll leave," said Kululu.

"Nah," said the god. He released all sorts of creatures to frighten Kululu. But Kululu didn't budge.

He wasn't frightened of those dumb things or anything this God had in store for him. "Ku, ku, ku." He just laughed.

* * *

"LEAVE! LEAVE! LEAVE!" The god was getting annoyed. It had been days, and whatever powers he was using to get Kululu to leave hadn't worked. Kululu didn't talk, he just had that creepy laugh that sent shudders down his spine. "Fine! What is it you want again?"

"Mois, alive. Give me Angol Mois," said Kululu.

The god frowned. "Fine. But only if you stop laughing and give me something in return."

"What is it you want?" Kululu asked. He would give anything to see Mois again. He just hoped he wasn't asked to kill Saburo.

"Something simple. Your eye. Carve it out and you have a deal," said the god.

Kululu sighed. He liked being able to see, and that sounded like it would hurt, but it was worth it. "Do you have a knife?"

The God tossed him a spoon. Kululu winced but took off his glasses and poked at his eye, prying around it and trying not to scream.

Eventually it popped out. Blood poured out of the socket and Kululu pressed on it, trying not to black out. He walked over and handed his eye to the god.

"Now, give me her," he said.

"All right. I'll let her follow you back to the world of the living," the god explained, "But you can't look at her. If you reach the top, you win. You get her. She'll be alive. But if you look behind you even once, you'll lose. The gate to the underworld will close behind you. So you've got to trust me."

Kululu bit his lip. He had never been good with trust. He didn't even trust Mois to come back to him. But he nodded and started walking up the stairs.

He saw the light at the top and wondered if Mois was following him. _She probably hates me after the fight we had,_ he thought to himself. Would she be following him? He knew he couldn't be impulsive and look behind him, but what if she wasn't there when he was back up and it closed behind him? If he looked behind himself and ran, she'd be able to follow, and he'd have her.

He tried to tell himself not to look, but even Kululu had impulses that all his genius couldn't beat. He glanced behind him at the very top and saw her.

She gave him a kind smile, but then screamed as she fell down the stairs, and her body was sucked into the crystal ball of the god. He laughed and Kululu was booted out of the underworld.

"I... I lost... She's gone forever now." Kululu's hands shook. After all that... It had been all for nothing. He curled up and wept.

"I'm sorry. I really am," Saburo told him and hugged him.

It was over.

* * *

"And that's how Mois and I met, and how we ended. Impulsiveness... Ku, instinct. It's all the greatest sin." Kululu looked down, shaking. Saburo tried to steady him.

Fuyuki just felt sorry for Kululu. So not only had he lost his eye over that, he had lost Mois, as well.

"But... I guess I can finally make peace with it knowing that my other self is happy with her and making the right choices. He's treating her right, isnt' he? She's happy?"

Fuyuki knew Kululu was probably pranking her or something. "Yeah. Totally happy," he lied.

* * *

Meanwhile in Fuyuki's original world, Angol Mois sneezed.

"Do you feel weird, Kululu? Like somebody's talking about you?" she had to ask.

"Actually, yes," Kululu nodded, pausing from his work. It probably wasn't important. But he was suspicious about who would talk about him and Mois. Hopefully they weren't talking about his big fear and weakness.

"Kululu! Are you working on where Fuyuki is and how to get him back?" Keroro asked.

"Yeah! Don't worry, I'm getting closer to whatever dimension he's in." Kululu frowned. Saburo's power over that reality pen was going too far. Saburo was the one who had told them about Fuyuki falling in. And now Fuyuki had been missing for a week.

Saburo probably felt awful, though. Kululu felt a bit bad for the guy.

"Mois, inspect the C section dimensions!" Kululu ordered.

"You got it, Kululu!" she smiled.

Kululu was glad he had a partner like her. And they worked, trying to be quick.

* * *

 **They'll probably be one of the few characters to get a backstory flashback.**

 **Please review.**


	11. Third Lord

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

 **After this chapter the alternating points of view will not have a system/will kind of stop since the points of view converge in this chapter and the two plot points meet each other.**

 **Also, you get some of Natsumi's back story this chapter and what this world's Fuyuki has been doing.**

* * *

Natsumi lay on the grass sleeping peacefully. She usually had the calm or wild oceans to rock her to sleep but being in the grass was strangely peaceful as well.

She woke up with a deep scent in her nose, as if something was being roasted. She opened her eyes and saw Giroro across from her, roasting some sweet potatoes.

"Sweet potatoes?" she asked. They happened to be her favorite food, but she had never remembered telling Giroro about it. How had he known?

"They're my favorite food. I hope you don't mind," he told her.

"No. They're my favorite, too. I can't cook them worth a darn, though, and on the ship, it's dangerous to make fires. The boat could go up in flames," she explained.

Giroro handed her a potato. "Then treat yourself. We're not on the sea right now."

Natsumi gave a stiff nod before biting into the sweet yam. Her mouth watered from the flavor and she smiled.

Giroro grinned at how happy she looked... nothing like the fierce pirate he'd been told to fear.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"Surprisingly, yes," she answered. "After breakfast... do you think you'll be ready to face Dororo?"

Giroro thought about it for a moment and nodded. They needed to be able to figure out if they were going after that Nishizawa heir - if there was a chance of her being alive, that was. She didn't deserve to be imprisoned against her will, and a rescue mission was honorable.

"All right." Natsumi took another bite of her potato. Soon they'd face him.

* * *

Dororo was worried as he watched the horizon. Koyuki had told him to not seek out his old friend, despite his desire to do so. He hadn't meant to offend Giroro or cause him to run off.

If only he could talk to him as easily as he did with Koyuki. But even lifetime friends weren't as important as soulmates like Koyuki.

Finally, Natsumi and Giroro approached.

"Have a good time in the forest?" Koyuki asked, glancing down at Giroro. "Is he okay?" she whispered.

"He's fine," Natsumi told her. "And I've made a decision about your request. I'll help you find the Nishizawa heiress, if she is alive and captured. It fits my needs, too. It's been on my list to track down those two other pirate lords and destroy them, to become the ruling Pirate Lord of the Sea." Being number 1 was a tough goal, but she suspected she wasn't the only one who wanted it.

"Good! I'm ready to go when you are!" Koyuki smiled.

"We both are. I'm going to right my wrongs of attempting to assassinate lady Momoka," said Dororo. "And if we get in a fight with her abductors then I will take her revenge."

Giroro frowned. There was tension between Dororo and him, despite being old friends, and so he didn't know if it would be best having him with him on the boat. But in a battle, Dororo was someone you always wanted on your side.

"You're not going to betray us and kill Natsumi, right?" Giroro hissed.

Dororo shook his head and vowed, "She is lady Koyuki's friend. I'd never harm her."

Natsumi nodded. "You'll both get passage on my ship, but I don't know if I can trust Dororo yet, so you'll have to work for your passage. Nothing comes for free."

Dororo understood. "I would love to work for you."

* * *

It wasn't long before Natsumi, her crew, Koyuki, and Dororo were all on board her ship, heading off for the open seas again.

Her crew all knew that they were going off to destroy one of the other Pirate Lords.

"The Pirate Lords... Are they tough?" Koyuki asked.

"Last time I fought one of them, he wasn't too tough," Natsumi answered. "Skilled in the strategy of battle, but I had more physical strength. He was clever, though - he managed to get away. His ship disappeared like magic."

Giroro frowned. "Magic?" That didn't sound right. Out of anyone to possess magic, pirates deserved it the least. Especially if this pirate was Natsumi's rival.

Koyuki frowned. She loved reading about spirits and magic but didn't have any of her own. If one of the Pirate Lords did, the playing field would be a lot less even.

"Magic can be remedied by honorable intentions. Fighting from the heart will beat any powers that the gods have given someone," Dororo honestly believed.

"The other Pirate Lord is new, so I don't know anything about them. And we've never crossed paths so I don't know how to find him," Natsumi explained. "Finding the one I know will be easier. He'll gravitate toward the ships that have the most money to rob them; he's like that. And then we can board his ship and attack." She laid out a map. "I already have a plan. These following ships typically carry the most riches. Their set courses stretch from..."

Giroro just looked in awe. Natsumi was really in her element.

"Now, we need someone to stay behind on my ship to defend it if he tries to attack mine." She looked among the faces in her group. "Any volunteers?"

Dororo spoke up. "You do not trust me yet. And although I'd like to right my wrongs, I will do so by guarding the ship dutifully if need be."

"Fine. Koyuki, you'll search the cabins for the Nishizawa when we board the ship," she ordered. "Giroro and I and the rest of the crew will attack."

Giroro nodded. He could get behind that plan. It would be nice to beat a Pirate Lord, like he wasn't giving into piracy just yet.

He wondered what this terrible guy was like.

* * *

The oceans were so big and vast that it took them a few days to sail to the location they expected the other Pirate Lord to be in. Hidden behind a large rock formation, they watched a gold-filled ship. Eventually a flicker of another ship appeared and members of the crew trapezed over to the boat.

It had appeared, and just like Natsumi had told them, it had previously been invisible.

"Charge!" Natsumi yelled. Her boat charged at the ship known as the Phantom, ramming into it. Cannons fired and the ship disappeared for a moment.

"No you don't! Not again! I won't get confused this time." Getting her sword ready, Natsumi hung on a rope and leaped over to what she could only put faith in herself was a ship.

Giroro's eyes widened as she fell. Suddenly, she landed on seemingly nothing. The ship revealed itself to her.

"Come on! It's real!" Natsumi beckoned her crew. Giroro nodded and swung over to the boat.

"I thought you said she was dead, Kululu," the white-haired captain growled, pulling out a dagger.

"Ku, guess she came back from the dead. Geez, she's such a thorn in our side," the Keronian by the captain's side, Kululu, muttered.

Giroro pulled out his guns.

"Where's Momoka?" Koyuki asked, pulling out her kunai knives.

A blue-haired boy by the captain's side looked confused as he looked at the three. "Wh-what are they doing here?"

"That over there, Fuyuki, is one of the three Pirate Lords - Natsumi," spoke the captain, Saburo. "Better hide while I deal with this. It's time to fight."

And Natsumi charged at him.

* * *

Giroro fought Saburo's crew valiantly. He shot many, but he kept his eyes trained on Natsumi. Natsumi fought against Saburo pretty closely, but they seemed evenly matched for the most part.

What Giroro assumed was a cabin boy hid behind a barrel, begging for Saburo to stop. Saburo didn't listen.

Giroro turned to his opponent. Was it Saburo's first mate? A Keronian like himself stood before him.

Kululu yawned. "Ku, ku, ku. Do we really have to fight? I suck at battles."

"Of course we do. I hate pirates, and being the first mate of a Pirate Lord is a crime!" Giroro hissed.

"I'm not his first mate. Just his surgeon. Ku, ku, ku. And if you hate pirates so much, why are you aiding one?" Kululu asked.

Giroro blushed. No way was he telling this guy he was Natsumi's consort.

"He's my chief consort!" Natsumi answered for him, listening into some of the conversation. Giroro turned a deeper shade of red.

"Ku, ku, ku, ku! That is _gold,_ " Kululu laughed. "I like you. You're pathetic. When Saburo beats y'all, I'll ask him to spare you so we can keep you as a prisoner."

Giroro pointed his gun at Kululu's face. "What makes you think you'll survive this encounter?"

Kululu pressed a button. Giroro froze. He couldn't move.

"Because I've booby trapped this ship with the latest technology. Ku. You're being shocked by several volts of electricity now; I doubt your nerves can move even if your willpower is extraordinary," he explained. "Really think a super genius like me would take any chances at losing?"

Giroro fell over, his legs burning. "Super genius?" Who was he facing? He closed his eyes, trying to remember the face in front of him. He had read some news articles about him, he recalled. "Kululu... the mad scientist surgeon. You create monsters!" he remembered. "But you became inexplicably popular because you were the only one in the nation who could repair the extreme damage caused by a tsunami."

"Ku. That's me! Can't believe you remembered, oh look, I'm blushing." Kululu pulled the dial a little lower. "Let me guess who you are... Oh, don't tell me you're that disgraced Keronian soldier I read about in the news! Such high hopes for you! Ku, ku, ku. Pity that you just didn't have the guts all the rest of us Keronians do."

"To be awful? Yes. I was not made to be pure evil like you. I suppose the world had high hopes for you, too, but then you left to become a pirate. I suppose we both disappointed society!" Giroro laughed.

Kululu frowned. His life as a surgeon on the inland was gone, but superficial people like his patients wasn't something he missed compared to Saburo. "Saburo's going to kill that Pirate Lord. And then we'll only have one until we're on the top."

"Natsumi will beat him. Just you wait!" Giroro insisted, still unable to move. But Kululu seemed just happy enough to mock him as he squirmed on the ground.

* * *

Saburo's dagger clashed with Natsumi's sword. Her hits had more power and force, but he was more agile, able to dodge attacks.

Fuyuki's screams and pleads weren't helping in the background, though.

"Nice to see you again, Natsumi," Saburo teased. "This time I won't flee. We're ending this once and for all."

"I agree. Too bad you couldn't accept that I'm the best pirate in the seas," said Natsumi.

"I think I'm the true Pirate Lord destined to rule the seas. I'm the one with a magical ship, after all," Saburo pointed out. "You had no idea the _things_ I had to do to get here."

"Oh? Did you ask your daddy to buy you a ship or something? What kind of quick fix did you do to become a pirate? I bet it wasn't anything with actual _work_!" Natsumi screeched. Their weapons clashed again.

"And why would you say that?" Saburo asked.

"Because I remember the sea before you," she told him. "Back when neither of us ruled the sea, and the Lord of Terror reigned. I still braved the sea at that time, but you only appeared _after_ she was gone. You just bought into the same trend as everybody else. You weren't meant to be here. I was. I was the one who worked for it."

Saburo glared. "You have no idea the sins I committed to get here. I deserve it more than you. Your blood will be the last ingredient in ensuring my position as the true Pirate Lord."

"Sins you committed? That's nothing compared to actual experience and skill. And I didn't need some stupid talisman, either," she retorted.

Saburo put his finger at his throat. How did she figure out that the talisman controlled the invisibility? She must have seen when he was fleeing last.

When he touched his throat, the talisman wasn't there.

"Looking for this?" Natsumi asked, holding up the talisman. "I snatched it from you while we were talking. Hah, you pride yourself so much on this trinket, and now it's mine."

Saburo smiled. "I knew you'd go for the treasure. A pirate always does." Natsumi's legs started bleeding. " _I_ hit you while we were talking." She fell over as Saburo pulled his dagger to her throat. "I've conned you. I'm more clever, you see, so I win." He laughed. "You're not even that cute, so this will be easy."

He was about to plunge the dagger into Natsumi's neck but Fuyuki leaped forward, pushing him aside. "You can't!" he screamed.

"Your cabin boy has more heart than you," Natsumi noted.

Saburo tried to desperately get Fuyuki off of him. "What are you doing? I thought you agreed to help me defeat the pirate lords! And she'll kill you if she recovers. Let me kill her!"

Fuyuki shook his head adamantly. "You can't harm Natsumi!" He gestured wildly at her. "She's my sister."

Saburo paused for a moment and looked at Fuyuki in shock. His sister was one of the three Pirate Lords in this world?

Who _was_ this kid?

Giroro looked toward them in confusion. The brother Natsumi had called out for was this guy?

"How interesting! Ku, ku, ku. This will be useful," Kululu hummed.

All of a sudden, Koyuki ran up to them. "She isn't here, Natsumi. Wrong Pirate Lord."

But Natsumi just stood there in shock until she spoke, "What the heck are you talking about? You're not my brother!"

"Yes, yes I am!" said Fuyuki.

She shook her head. "I don't have a brother."

Fuyuki's jaw dropped. That couldn't have been true. She had to have a brother! Had he never been born in this world?

Giroro tried to find his voice. "Natsumi... you do have a brother. You called out for him when you slept. This... This guy with this Pirate Lord might actually be him."

"Yeah!" Fuyuki agreed. "So please stop fighting. Saburo's my friend, and you're my sister..."

Natsumi shook her head. "You aren't my brother. I don't have one anymore. He's dead. I saw him die. So you can't be him."

"He's from a different dimension. One without pirates roaming everywhere," Saburo tried to explain. He wanted to beat Natsumi, but Fuyuki seemed so concerned with not being around. If it was really necessary, he could blackmail Natsumi into quitting her position by threatening Fuyuki.

"But... Fuyuki is dead," Natsumi said again. She looked away from the live version of her brother before her. "I was six when it happened... He's gone."

"How? How can I be dead?" He had been convinced _he_ had brought himself to this dimension. But how could that be if he was dead? What did his dead self need?

* * *

It had been back when Natsumi's parents were still together. They had been traveling on a boat when her four-year-old brother caught an illness. She loved the sea, her father loved traveling, and her mother loved excitement.

Nobody had expected Fuyuki would hate it so much, but he was sick with a cough. Her mother held him closely. but there was nothing they could do.

"Look at the ocean, Fuyuki. It's so pretty," Natsumi told Fuyuki, holding his hand as she showed him to the edge of the ship. Fuyuki coughed.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" Aki asked.

"And the water is so calm," Natsumi smiled. Her father hugged her and put her on his shoulders.

"O-ocean," Fuyuki mumbled, reaching out to the rails. Like a flash of light, the railing gave way and he fell into the waves.

"FUYUKI!" Aki screamed. Natsumi's father dropped her immediately.

Aki jumped into the water below to retrieve her son. The crew threw out ropes to pull her back in. Natsumi watched with fear but knowing her brother was strong.

 _Fuyuki... Fuyuki. You can do it! Swim!_ she prayed, as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Soon enough her mother was out of the water.

"Wh-where's Fuyuki?" Natsumi asked.

"Your brother... He lives with the sea now. The sea god wanted him," she sobbed. "Haru... He was already blue when I got to him. And he drowned so quickly. He didn't even float, he just fell to the depths. The water crushed him... There was nothing I could do."

Haru just cried. Natsumi wanted to comfort both her parents, but she cried too.

Her brother was gone. She had only known him for four years, but he was gone forever now. "I hope he's happy with the sea god," she cried. Aki held her daughter.

"Sure, honey," she told her, knowing that nothing had taken him. He was just dead.

* * *

Her father hadn't been able to deal with the grief. He had left them on their own to fend for themselves soon after that. He had been weak, and after the incident, Natsumi had promised she wouldn't think about Fuyuki so that she wouldn't let him tear apart her dreams and her heart like it did to her parents. Aki tried to work and provide for them, but she was so depressed. She had gotten sick and died four years later.

Her father never came back for her. Natsumi was on her own. And every night, she wondered what she had done wrong to make her family leave her.

She knew they were never coming back. She was the only one there for her now.

Now, seeing a version of Fuyuki in front of her... it hurt her too much.

* * *

Natsumi was crying. "You're not him. He drowned. He was taken by the sea god. Stop impersonating him and saying dumb things about other dimensions."

"Sis, sis, it's me. I'm not dead. I'm not your Fuyuki, but I'm _a_ Fuyuki," he said. "Isn't that good enough?" He went up to his sister, but she swatted him away.

"Believe your brother. I've run tests while he was sleeping," Kululu told her.

"Huh?" asked Fuyuki.

"He's definitely from another dimension. Sometimes... you have to find solace that the people you care about are alive in another place."

Natsumi just cried.

Saburo relaxed. She wasn't fighting him, but they couldn't turn invisible with that talisman in her hand.

He sighed. "Tell your ship to stop shooting at us until you've sorted this out. I can't kill you until Fuyuki gives the okay. Don't want him to cry." Saburo crossed his arms. "I can't kill a person that someone's going to grieve over for all eternity."

Fuyuki smiled at him in thanks.

"I never gave Dororo orders to shoot the ship we were on, though," Natsumi said, confused.

"Hey isn't it awfully foggy?" Giroro asked. Kululu pressed a button, allowing Giroro to move. He glanced at Saburo and Fuyuki.

"SHIT!" he swore.

"They followed us. Damn, why didn't I see this?" Saburo messed with his hair frantically.

Natsumi pulled herself up to the railing to see what was shooting at them. The ship that she had heard about for so long and had never seen or encountered pulled up by the sides of theirs - Winter, the Lord of Terror's ship.

A loud-speaker blared to their ship. "It's my lucky day! But don't worry, I'm merciful. Put up a white flag if you surrender. I'll load you onto my ship take your spoils and stuff like that blah blah blah, basically want to die or be part of my crew?"

"Hey, I think those are the two other Pirate Lords, Mr. Captain," a cuter-sounding voice spoke.

"Really? You mean I ran into and beat the two other Pirate Lords?" asked the first voice. "Wow! Being a Pirate Lord is super easy and fun! Just like what I thought it would be in the story books! All right. Uhhh, put up a white flag. Guess I'm king of the ocean now. Geez, I'm so happy. Man, what a great day this turned out to be!"

Nobody could believe what they were hearing.

Reluctantly, Saburo and Natsumi's ships put up white flags. They knew they couldn't beat that ship.

"So... it's not her." Kululu looked down sadly. "But how did someone obtain her ship? It's only supposed to do her bidding..."

A ramp came down so that Saburo's and Natsumi's crews could board. They were now the Pirate Lord's prisoners.

The captain came out to green them. He didn't look anything like a Pirate besides the fact that he was snazzily dressed. He was a green Keronian with a star insignia.

"Keroro?" Giroro realized. Dororo squinted his eyes at his old friend as well.

"Yo! I win the pirate game!" Keroro smiled cheerily.

Fuyuki just stared ahead at his best friend. He was the last Pirate Lord? Why?

But he couldn't ask. They had been captured. They had lost.

* * *

 **And also you get Keroro. How many of you knew Keroro was the last Pirate Lord?**

 **Please review.**


	12. Captured

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **Here is another chapter.**

* * *

All of them were shackled as various people of Keroro's crew put chains on their arms. Even the famed Pirate Lords Natsumi and Saburo were at Keroro's submission. Giroro just looked like he could not believe what was happening. Kululu seemed to be laughing, observing and sizing up Keroro.

"Guys! Guys! I want to be captured, too! Don't forget about me! Keroro, you're so mean..." Dororo, the only one free, quickly fixed that problem.

 _I guess some things never change in any world._ Fuyuki honestly hadn't even been aware that Dororo was here. Dororo was quickly shackled, along with Koyuki.

They were all there. Together. And although Fuyuki felt like he should be happy, he felt really out of place. Keroro was the Pirate Lord they had been searching for? Why did he have Angol Mois's ship? How had he even remotely become successful? He still looked like the fun-loving sarge to him.

"I can't believe he sneaked up on us like that," Natsumi growled, looking at Keroro. Her mind was whirling as she wondered if she would survive this encounter.

 _Is... Is anything going to happen? Is she going to try to kill him? No, is Sarge going to try to kill my sister?_ Fuyuki was so confused. This world felt wrong... Although some things remained the same like Giroro and Natsumi being partners and Kululu and Saburo being friends and Dororo constantly being forgotten, he and Mois were dead. This was a serious world and he was a tiny bit frightened.

For what purpose had he come here? Had the spirit of his other self wanted to fix whatever fight was happening between Keroro, Saburo and Natsumi? Was he supposed to make them all friends?

Or... was he just supposed to replace him? He had a life. He didn't have time to replace himself. He wanted to go home.

"Onto the ship, m'kay?" Keroro asked. "I can't believe I took both Pirate Lords out. I'm so lucky!"

"How probable was it that the third Pirate Lord was just an idiot?" Saburo whispered to Keroro.

"Judging by the ship he has... very unlikely. There has to be something else about him. He couldn't have become so successful on luck alone," Kululu remarked.

"I kind of want to punch him more than I've ever wanted to punch someone before," said Natsumi.

"Because you were beaten in a matter of mere minutes? Must hurt. You tried to beat _me_ so hard, yet we both got vanquished by this guy," Saburo laughed. He may have also lost, but at least Natsumi was suffering with him. Natsumi glared.

"Don't worry, Natsumi. He won't kill us. I know this guy. He grew up with me in my town," Giroro explained. "And he's a pure idiot. He doesn't have the capacity to kill anyone. Honestly I'm not even sure what he's doing as a pirate... He never seemed the pirate type."

"Most likely he's doing it for the aesthetic. What a terrible reason," Dororo remarked as well.

Saburo sweated. That was his reason? Because he thought being a pirate was _cool_? He shuddered at Keroro's stupidity.

"Hey Giroro, hey uhhhhhhhhhhh I forgot your name. Didn't know you guys were pirates too?" Keroro greeted as he let them all walk onto the ship, taking up a friendly tone. "I guess this is your lucky day, then! You can work for the greatest pirate out there, me."

"I'll never work under you. I work under Natsumi - I mean, I'm her prisoner," Giroro protested.

" _Consort_ ," Natsumi corrected quietly. Saburo, Kululu, and Keroro all laughed - Keroro the hardest.

"What does consort mean?" Fuyuki whispered.

"It's like... a spouse of a reigning monarch," Saburo explained. "Lately the phrase has been used for, like, people... in a person's power. Like... you know, um... someone whose job is to please their ruler... sexually."

Fuyuki made a disgusted face. " _SIS_!"

"In name only!" she corrected. "Don't worry."

"I do not work with the pirates either," Dororo interjected. "You see, I went on a life-changing journey and learned to be a ninja with my precious friend - "

"Boring! Back to me!" Keroro shouted Dororo cried, "Anyway, your ships and lives are mine. That's how it goes when you pillage things. Tamama, come over here!" he requested.

Tamama jogged over, a Keronian tadpole also dressed like he didn't quite understand piratehood. He had a fancy hat and an eyepatch on his forehead instead of over his eye. "Yes, Mr. Captain!" he hummed, his tail wagging like an excited puppy.

"Line them up! I guess as captain, I'll decide what to do with them, cuz that's my job." Tamama saluted. "Boy, is it fun to be a captain." Keroro rubbed his hands together.

 _Well. Found Tamama. That was easy. Geez, everybody is kind of accompanying everyone else._ Fuyuki briefly wondered where Momoka was.

Koyuki frowned as she looked at Tamama. "You!" she pointed. Tamama froze for a second. He didn't know who she was.

"Ummm... I don't know you," he told her. Koyuki frowned.

"I'm one of the ninjas employed by the Nishizawas. Momoka's bodyguard," she reminded him.

"Oh." Tamama was quiet. "Wh-what does that have to do with me?"

Natsumi looked confused. "Is he one of the pirates that took the Nishizawa heiress?"

 _Another question answered,_ Fuyuki thought. He knew Momoka and Tamama were probably together.

"No! He isn't. He was the captain of the Momoka's yacht, _Peach_ , that went out and was attacked by Pirates." Koyuki smiled. "If he survived, it means that she might be alive, too. You promised you'd protect her out on sea, remember? You guys must have been attacked by him - " She pointed to Keroro with disgust. " - and became his prisoners!"

Tamama sighed. He continued his job of straightening out Kululu, Dororo, Giroro and Saburo and passed a sad glance to Koyuki.

"Yeah, I was in charge of Momocchi's ship..." he started.

"Tamama... is this an acquaintance of yours?" Keroro asked. "Should I step back?"

"You're so kind, Mr. Captain! I love you so much!" Tamama smiled.

"But... only as a captain, right?" Keroro asked.

"Uhhh... sure. Suuuuuuureee..." Tamama laughed nervously. Tamama moved to Natsumi to position her in a line next to Saburo. Natsumi tried to slash at him angrily with her shackles.

"You're with him now... The attacker of Momoka! You promised to protect her, but you joined the enemy! And worst of all, fell in love with him!" Natsumi, figuring things out, looked at Tamama accusedly. "You betrayed your employer and let her die, didn't you?"

Giroro looked down awkwardly. "Yeah, whoever you are! Falling in love with the enemy is terrible!"

"Ku, ku, ku. Hypocrite," Kululu teased. Giroro glared.

Tamama took a step back from Natsumi's jab. "He's not that bad! Yeah, he attacked Momochi's and my yacht, but he didn't do anything to harm us! Momocchi was treated with luxury and he offered me a job. He just wanted to play pirate. He's sweet. Like a child."

"Like... Like a child?" Keroro twitched, listening in. "Hey! I'm very serious about this job! I mean, I'm now by default the most important Pirate Lord, right?"

Nobody really believed him. Not even Tamama.

"Then where is Momoka? Is she safe? Can you take me to her?" Koyuki asked desperately. "I came here to find you, for revenge, or to save her. I need to rescue her... It's my job..."

Tamama looked down sadly, and everybody already knew the news he was going to deliver.

"Oh no... What did you do to her?" Natsumi gasped.

"Nothing. I did nothing. And Mr. Captain did nothing either... We were out at sea for many long months, and it was lots of fun. Momocchi liked it, too. She was just as happy to be out here as I was and told me I could return to the inland with her if I wished, or if I really wanted I could stay and we'd always remain friends..." Keroro put a hand on Tamama's shoulder. He knew it would be hard for him to say.

"But...?" Giroro asked. There was always a "but."

Fuyuki wanted to cover his ears. He didn't want to hear this.

"She died of sickness one month ago. You were simply just a little too late. I'm sorry." Tamama balled his hands into fists, looking as if he was going to cry. Keroro awkwardly put an arm around his waist to hold him, until he realized it probably looked gay to the prisoners he was trying to impress, so he quickly took his arm away. He suddenly became very interested with the seagulls overhead.

"No... No..." Koyuki just shook her head over and over again in despair from the words. Dororo was calm. He had already known the answer deep down.

"Anyway..." Keroro cleared his throat. "Uhh... Let's count how many prisoners I have. Tamama, you can go deal with the others on the other two ships. The rest of their crew... Six in all."

"Seven," Dororo corrected.

"Seven." Keroro agreed, forgetting Dororo for a moment. "Anyway, being my rivals, the Pirate Lords... You two," he pointed to Saburo and Natsumi, "will have specially guarded quarters. Giroro and Zabubu, you're old friends so if you want to join me you can." Both of them shook their heads. Keroro frowned. "Ninja girl, I have no problem with you and feel kind of bad about what happened, so once we get to port, you can be freed... I suppose." Keroro frowned. "Uhh... you're his first mate, right?" he asked Kululu.

"Surgeon. Not first mate," he corrected.

"Surgeons are useful. You're mine now. Ain't letting you go."

Fuyuki was still shaking from the news related to Momoka. But he realized that his name had been neglected to be mentioned.

"You all look like you were fighting a while ago. I guess you can rest on the deck while we plunder your ship and tie it to the back of ours. I have a pretty cool ship, don't I?" Keroro looked proud of his cool ghost ship.

Kululu frowned. "You do..." He touched the floor of the ship for the moment, thinking about Mois. He shook his head, knowing the situation they were in was serious, even if they were being imprisoned by an idiot. "Where did you acquire it?"

"He was probably a friend of Mois's," Fuyuki spoke shakily. Everything else was mostly the same in this world. Mois and Keroro's relationship was probably just like that.

Natsumi looked around the ship. "Mois? You mean the Lord of Terror? Are you suggesting that my brother from another dimension is acquainted with her?"

Keroro looked confused. "I don't even know who you're talking about," he blankly stared. "I was given this ship as a gift."

Kululu frowned. Fuyuki's theory did sound kind of likely now. But he had never heard about this guy from Mois's past.

"I just tied the ships to ours!" Tamama smiled, wiping some sweat off his brow as he returned. "We can go now. Adventure!"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right..." said Keroro. "Huh, still have to think about what I should do to these Pirate Lords. Swear allegiance to me, I suppose."

Natsumi frowned, but Keroro and Tamama quickly relocated people and dragged them away.

* * *

Saburo and Natsumi had their own rooms while Koyuki, Dororo, Giroro and Kululu were forced to sit on the deck as they waited for Keroro to rearrange rooms for them to be imprisoned in. Koyuki didn't seem to like Keroro or trust him, but Giroro and Dororo mostly had free range of the deck, since their shackles had been taken off. They didn't see Keroro as much of a threat, being an old friend. Just an idiot who had managed to get lucky. They knew they were in no risk of dying.

Kululu remained confused. "How the hell did he become a Pirate Lord?" he asked Fuyuki, who was sitting across from him. Fuyuki was frowning. He had been widely ignored by Keroro, not even given a job. "He's a complete idiot. And he doesn't deserve this ship... No way would Mois give it to him. What's their relationship in your world?" he asked grumpily.

"They're... uhh..." Fuyuki scratched his head. No way could he tell Kululu that Angol Mois had a huge crush on Keroro. It would devastate him. But he suspected it might have been the same in this world and Mois had neglected to mention it. Or she and Kululu had broken up and she had died after the break up, never really planning on coming back. But she didn't seem like that kind of person. "She views him as her Uncle."

"Funny, she never told me about him," he muttered. "But it's not even _that_ that's so perplexing. Saburo for years has been working to become the best pirate in the seas, working his butt off for his dream. And this guy just waltzes in all new and beats him and Natsumi in a matter of seconds with an all-powerful ship? Who is this guy?" Kululu didn't like him one bit. He didn't deserve to have Saburo's dream.

"He's... well, in my world, he's a sergeant who leads an invasion force... And my best friend." Fuyuki smiled a little.

"Your best friend is an idiot," Kululu replied. Speaking of that idiot, Keroro walked out onto the deck, stretching. Kululu beckoned him over.

"I'm not getting you anything," Keroro frowned.

"Ku, relax, I just wanted to ask you a question. I can't _fathom_ your motivation for being a pirate. You totally aren't the type to be one. You probably haven't even killed anybody. So... what is it that drives you to be the best Pirate Lord in the sea?" Kululu asked. Maybe he would be more satisfied with the answer.

"You're going to be mighty disappointed!" Giroro yelled across the deck.

Keroro thought for a moment. "You know action figures? Pirate figurines sell _really_ well. I always wanted to be a figurine and have merchandise of myself. When I was a kid I would play pirate sometimes, and I suppose you could say the reason is just cuz it's cool! I mean, just something to pass the time and make money for, right?" he shrugged.

Fuyuki smiled. Keroro was the light-hearted pirate adventurer that he had always hoped would be in this world. He wanted to hug him.

Kululu twitched. He then flung himself at Keroro, his fingers curled up like claws as if to attack him. What Keroro had said was an insult to everything Kululu knew.

"OW! OW! OW!" Keroro screamed as Kululu tried to pummel him. Kululu would have choked him right there, but he pulled off for a second, covering his eye - the one with an eyeptach over it.

"Urgh... Out of all the times to start hurting, why now?" he groaned.

Fuyuki stayed by Kululu's side, pulling him farther away from Keroro. He knew Saburo would have probably done the same to Keroro. Saburo and Kululu did take piracy a little far. Natsumi would have just hurled him off the boat. He knew his sister well.

"I'm sure... we'll get off this boat soon." He knew Kululu was acting a little weird. Kululu didn't like it here. And he knew Saburo would help him out of this. "Saburo will figure something out."

Giroro mostly ignored their little fight. He wasn't too worried.

"I... I just can't believe Momoka's dead." Koyuki was still held up on that. That was her whole reason for coming out to sea. "She's a strong girl. Really tough. She wouldn't have just died from sickness like that." She couldn't believe it, and she didn't trust Keroro or Tamama. Not thinking much at all and seeing Keroro in pain from Kululu's attack, she rushed up to him with her knives ready.

Keroro's crew rushed up and grabbed her, chaining her up.

"Why does everybody keep attacking me?" Keroro asked. "I'm a nice guy! All I want to do is rule the ocean and force everyone to obey me. What's the problem there?"

"Really, Keroro? What's the problem?" Giroro raised a brow. Keroro sheepishly grinned.

"You'll have to obey me, though. I guess, technically, you're all my prisoners. I'm the winning Pirate Lord!" Keroro hummed. He turned around for a second to go back to his chambers, and then he turned back and looked straight at Fuyuki. "Actually, I forgot about something... You." He pointed to Fuyuki.

"Yeah?" Fuyuki's voice shook a little bit. Keroro had finally remembered him.

"You were requested to meet with my first mate," he said. "I'll take you to his chambers." He grabbed Fuyuki's hand and pulled him down to the belowdecks.

 _The first mate? Tamama?_ He assumed it was Tamama. But what did Tamama need from him? Was it something concerning Momoka? Could he help her in some way?

Was that the reason he had come there, to help Momoka or something like that? Or was she really dead? Was it Koyuki who was right or Keroro? Who did he trust?

He was thrown into a nice room as the door locked behind him. And he waited.

Soon enough he'd see the first mate.

* * *

 **A pair that I don't write enough about, but adore the episodes about and ship hard is Momoka and Fuyuki. They deserve happiness and although I don't write them much, usually when I do they're a side pairing. I write them maybe a little more than Dororo and Koyuki, but way less than Giroro and Natsumi, I do enjoy them a lot. It's just that I enjoy their interactions more in canon than in fanfiction. Something about them being animated is just cuter.**

 **Any fans of Momoka and Fuyuki out there?**


	13. Myths

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

* * *

 **Roughly Nine Months ago**

Momoka sipped some tea in a silver tea cup. She sighed as the sea air filled her lungs. It wasn't that she didn't like the ocean, it was relaxing. But she couldn't understand people that would spend their whole life on the sea.

She figured she didn't understand most things, because she didn't particularly like land either. Sure, her riches, treasures, and family were there, but everybody treated her like a princess. And why shouldn't they? She was the most famous person in the Pekoponian lands, the richest in all the nations. But she didn't particularly like the feeling of isolation.

The only people who really talked to her were people who were employed to do it. Who had to. Her butler, Paul; the captain of her favorite yacht, Tamama; and her bodyguard, Koyuki. She liked them all, but she knew if something were to happen to her, they wouldn't really care. Her parents would mourn her, but friends? She had none of those, although she wished she could think of Tamama as that.

She trusted him, but she knew he also liked her for her money.

"Tamama, more sugar please," she requested.

"I'm a ship captain. I ain't got time for your sugar, woman!" Tamama growled, but his expression quickly changed. "I mean, sure!" He hummed and poured a grain of sugar in her cup. Then he ate the rest himself.

Momoka giggled a little but, but stopped giggling when she saw fog. "Wh-what's that?" she pointed. She couldn't see what was in the fog, but as it got closer and closer, she was able to see the flag of a ship.

It was a pirate ship. And it was going to attack. And her yacht didn't have defensive capabilities.

Momoka was worried. Would they kill her? Or ransom her off? She wished dearly her bodyguard was with her.

* * *

She and Tamama were both shipped onboard the ship as her yacht burned. They had been the only ones found living as the wreckage fell into the ocean. Momoka knelt down on the ground as she glared at the captain of the ship - Keroro - someone who claimed to be one of the three Pirate Lords.

"That ship was expensive," she growled, her hair spiking. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're someone rich. And as a pirate, I attack the rich to plunder treasure," Keroro answered quickly.

"I'm Momoka freakin' Nishizawa. And you better not harm me, or you'll be hunted through the oceans. You can let me live and get a lot of money for ransoming me off, or you can kill me and die. Your call," she threatened, making a fist.

"Hey hold up! I never planned to kill you! I just wanted some money. But I guess... returning you would still get me hunted, huh? You're my prisoner, I suppose," Keroro smiled. "I'm not going to treat you special unless you pay me. You'll have to work for your position."

"What about me?" Tamama asked. "Are you going to kill me, Mr. Pirate?"

"Nah," Keroro shrugged. "You were the captain of that ship, right? I need someone to navigate steer my ship since I'm awful at it. Want to join?" he offered. "Being a pirate is pretty cool."

Tamama frowned. "You just destroyed my stuff! Why would I join you?"

"Uhhh... cuz I'm good looking and amazing?"

"No one would fall for that stupid reason!" Momoka protested.

Tamama giggled a bit. "Well, he makes a point about that he's good-looking. As long as Momocchi and I have safe passage and you promise not to harm either of us, I suppose I could help you out."

Momoka frowned. Tamama was an even bigger idiot, falling for this. But she was glad he was looking out for her. Was it because she could pay him? Or because she was his friend?

No. Friends didn't need to pay friends to be friends. He probably _was_ after the money.

"Nice to meet you, then. I'm Keroro. Sorry for burning your ship. I didn't mean to, it was honestly an accident... You see, there was this banana peel, and one thing lead to another, and your ship was on fire. You know how these things go. I doubt anyone died."

Meanwhile Zeroro tearfully drifted away in the ocean, forgotten... along with many dead bodies of Momoka's crew.

Momoka smiled. So this pirate that was so scary was just an idiot. Maybe this could suit her purpose after all. She would become comfortable in this ship and see the freedom she yearned for. She was a prisoner here with no money, so she'd be able to develop real relationships.

Maybe she'd even get friends.

* * *

Most of Keroro's crew didn't talk to her. They seemed lifeless and dead, kind of like his ship. It was magical, floating above the fog like a ghost ship. The crew kind of were like shadows, lifeless ghosts. Honestly, when Momoka had seen the ship, she'd assumed it was the Lord of Terror's ship, a mythological vessel she'd read about in books. She enjoyed reading about mythology. Hiding in the library reading was one thing that she felt she didn't need friends for, it was just fun on its own. But instead of the fearful Lord of Terror, only Keroro ruled the ship.

None of the crew members talked to her. She wondered if they were the possessed corpses she had heard about. Tamama was friendly enough, though. Sometimes she enjoyed his company, sometimes she didn't. She knew he was quickly developing a crush on Keroro, falling for all his stories and enjoying their fun adventures together. Keroro wasn't like other pirates; he didn't want to steal or pillage for the money; he just wanted to have fun. He was like a child, not realizing the danger of the job and the lives he was ruining, and Tamama loved being childish with him. Sometimes Keroro actually did do impressive things that Tamama idolized.

She was happy to see Tamama falling in love, but she was slightly jealous that Tamama was leaving her on her own to go find happiness.

"This ship..." Momoka asked, leaning on the railing and turning to Keroro, "is it the Lord of Terror's? I've heard of this ship in storybooks... How did you obtain it?"

"The ship's name is Winter." Keroro pat the railing. "But it doesn't belong to whoever that is. This was a gift and obeys my every order." Keroro thrust his chest out proudly. "Why did you want to know?"

"The crew doesn't talk to me. They work, but it's like they're possessed..."

Keroro waved his hand. "You'll get used to it. They're just living corpses. Some sort of contract with this vessel. They have to serve it for 100 years and then they'll get their lives back. Kind of creepy. But they follow my every order and I don't have to feed or pay them. Nice, huh?"

Momoka stepped back, shocked. So that was why.

"So you were here all alone on this vessel? How lonely!" Tamama snuggled up to Keroro, trying to win him over with over-dramatization. It worked. Over-dramatization always worked on Keroro.

"Well, I wasn't really alone. But I do appreciate the concern," said Keroro. "My first mate works with me. He's super nice. He's been in his chambers planning our next strike, so I doubt you've seen him. But I'll introduce you. He was the one who thought you guys were rich and attacked you!"

Momoka frowned. She already didn't like this guy. She rolled up her sleeves. "Bring me to him," she ordered.

"Sure thing." Keroro led her away.

* * *

Momoka politely knocked on the door of the first mate's chambers. Then she kicked the door down. "You were the one to attack my ship!" she declared.

A humanoid boy around her age in a dark cloak raised his head, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He pulled off his hood to get a better look at her. "Huh?" he asked. He had dark blue eyes and dark blue hair. She wasn't sure why someone around her age would resort to piracy.

"This is Momoka Nishizawa. She was on the boat we attacked," Keroro introduced. "She claims to be from the Nishizawa line who are, like, super duper rich!"

"Don't know them. Sorry," the boy apologized. "Keroro just wanted to find a good ship with a lot of riches and yours seemed super rich. I guess you were caught in the crossfire. We'll drop you off at port eventually..."

"No! You can't just _apologize_ to me, like it was just an accident. You need to make it up to me. I'm pretty influential. Aren't you worried about people coming after you and seeking revenge for mistreating the Nishizawa heiress?" she demanded.

The boy shook his head. "I don't think you'd do that. You probably had more than enough money to spare, and you seem so nice. What are you really mad at? Us destroying your ship? If you're so rich, you can just buy another... Unless that had sentimental value. Then I can't make up for that."

The boy stood up and looked into Momoka's eyes. He wasn't avoiding her. He was honestly curious why she was mad.

She supposed he made a point. She had more than enough money to spend it on pointless things. And the ship only had sentimental value to Tamama, who owned it, but he was happy enough with Keroro.

Being free of people expecting money out of her did make her happy. "Y-you tried to kill me!" she tried.

The boy shook his head. "There were no orders to kill. The fire was an accident," he clarified. "Out of everyone, we're the least likely to target you. Although..." He frowned for a moment. "There was an assassin hiding on your ship waiting to kill you. If we hadn't come along, you probably would have been killed."

"Whoa, how do you know that?" Keroro asked, impressed.

"I have my sources," the boy smirked.

Momoka took a step back. An assassin? That wasn't too unlikely; she was often targeted by them. She frowned. It was true. Out of everyone who would want to kill her, pirates would benefit the least from her death. They'd just be hunted instead of using her for ransom.

"Oh." She was silent for a moment.

"But you seem really angry and I'm honestly confused. What is it that you're angry about?" He looked deeper into her eyes. His eyes were so deep and blue, like the sea. They were so pretty.

She felt herself letting up. "Tamama," she confessed. "I'm mad at Tamama." She covered her mouth. Why had she said that?

"Why?" asked the boy.

"He doesn't care about me. Only my money. And now, without that... He's spending more time with Keroro than he ever did with me. They're honest friends, and they're bonding." She frowned. "I... I just want friends. But everybody thinks I'm spoiled. The people who do hang out with me just do it because I can pay them." She clutched at her shirt. She didn't know why she was telling him all this. Maybe because he had a kind face, a kind smile. Maybe it was because he was around her age. He seemed sweet.

The boy in front of her put his hand on the top of her head, patting it. "You have no money here. You don't seem spoiled. Judging people based on class or money seems so wrong." He exerted a small sigh. "I know a little about what you're feeling. Keroro is my only friend, too. But I'm happy that he's spending time with someone else that he cares for. Friendships don't end, they expand, right?"

Momoka smiled. What a nice friendship speech! He really was kind.

"If you want, I'll try spending time with you for a bit. I do feel a bit bad for your ship, since it was the first time I was choosing where to strike for a mission." He took his hand off her hair and she frowned. "I don't get much of a chance to meet people out here. And there's endless possibilities to new adventures and relationships right?"

"Yeah!" Momoka smiled. She shook his hand briskly. She liked this guy. "Um... as Keroro said, my name is Momoka Nishizawa, b-but... p-please call me Momoka." She looked down at the floor. Now she was getting shy. She wasn't sure why. She had been so open and honest a second ago.

"My name's Fuyuki," Fuyuki smiled. "Pleasure to meet you."

* * *

She spent many months on the ship. She knew people were looking for her, but everyday spending time with Fuyuki made her fall in love with him more. At first she had wanted a friend, but the more he talked to her, the kinder he was to her, and the more they shared, the deeper in love she fell. He even shared her love for mythology, always talking about the mysterious and unknown.

"Honestly we weren't just looking for money when we attacked your ship. We were looking for a good pirate to add to our crew and heard Tamama was a good captain. We didn't even know you were on that ship. I guess Keroro's luck must have rubbed off on us!" Fuyuki smiled, sitting on the deck with her. Momoka wanted to snuggle up to him and nuzzle into his chest. But she couldn't. That was much too embarrassing and she was sure he didn't feel the same way.

She was confused why he was a pirate, though, but she knew it wasn't her place to judge. He only told her of his life after meeting Keroro. She knew nothing of it before then.

"Do you want to try to study up on some mythology together? I know you like the unknown." Momoka pulled out a big book that they had stolen together, dusting it off. Fuyuki frowned.

"I'd... I'd like to. Mythology and the unknown does interest me a lot. You've heard a lot of my theories... But..." He bit his lip. "I can't read. I never learned how. I... I never really had the chance to go to school."

Momoka looked at him sadly. It was the first time Fuyuki had even implied he had a past before Keroro. "I can teach you. I mean, I have nothing really to do on this ship anyway besides being your guest." She smiled. "So let's read this together! I...I mean if you want," she blushed. A great excuse to spend time with Fuyuki.

Fuyuki grinned. "I would honestly love that! I would love to learn to read... To write. I want to learn it all. About the world outside of the sea. About the gods, the unknown, secret powers. I would love it."

Momoka smiled. She had a lot to teach, then.

* * *

She taught him all sorts of things - the different gods of that world... told him the rumors of the sea and the Lord of Terror, about the Angolians who were aligned with the gods, and all sorts of mythology. She always read a story to him every night and sometimes let him try to read on his own.

"Do you think the stories have any truth to them, Fuyuki?" Momoka asked.

"Of course. I believe fully in the gods. I prefer to look at these instead of storybooks as spells... History lessons," he told her.

"Spells..." Momoka whispered. "You know, I have a story about one of those. The gods are always benevolent in most of these stories, but through research and history it's been shown that they're actually quite fickle and change like the tides," she explained. "And although most people worship them, there are a few that don't." She flipped some pages in her book.

"Here's a story about one such person. When her family and lover were taken from her, she cursed the gods for making bets on how miserable they could make her." Momoka switched the pages.

"So she made a deal." Fuyuki snuggled into his bed. "These stories always have some sort of deal. And the deals never work out for people. What did she do? Go to the land of the dead?" Fuyuki asked.

Momoka giggled. "No. The gods ignored her, feeling they had done their job. So she swore her revenge. She went out to the forest and researched the old ways, spells and the sorts, and became a witch. She knew if she expanded her intellect, she'd eventually find a spell strong enough to defeat them."

Fuyuki's eyes widened intently. "Did she?"

"It took many years but eventually she perfected a spell - a spell so vile that only the most evil would use it. But her heart had been stomped on and broken, so she decided to do it. To defeat the gods." Momoka flipped some more pages, skipping over some.

Fuyuki grabbed Momoka's hand. She blushed as he brushed up against her fingers. "Wait," he told her. "What was the spell? You skipped it!"

Momoka faltered. "You need four items, she discovered, to become more powerful than the Gods." She showed him the pages. "The first one is a soul with incredible spiritual potential..."

"Oh yeah. I've heard that rumor," Fuyuki said. "Owning a spiritual soul like a charm can make you powerful. I didn't know there was any basis on it or it lead back to any stories. I thought it was just like a lucky charm."

Momoka flipped to the next page. "The eye of someone filled with regret."

"Heard that one too," Fuyuki nodded. "I know that one does have some basis for spells."

"And... the heart of someone you love," she continued.

Fuyuki frowned. "I hadn't heard that one," he whispered.

"Yes. The witch was able to test this spell on animals and such, but since she no longer had anyone she loved, she couldn't beat the gods. So there was a happy ending," said Momoka.

"Anything else?" Fuyuki asked.

"To drink your own blood." She furrowed her brow. "The story differs around this point how the witch tried to do this. Sometimes she chopped off a leg, sometimes she opened some sort of inter dimensional portal and found herself and murdered her. It's all sorts of different things."

Fuyuki nodded, listening closely. "But she failed in the end... because of the heart thing. I suppose it would be hard to kill someone you love. You'd have to decide what was more important - the revenge or the love."

Momoka nodded. Suddenly, Fuyuki grabbed her hand.

"If... If I ever found myself in the same situation, Momoka... You'd be more important to me than the revenge. I wouldn't take your heart," he told her.

Momoka blushed. Was he indirectly telling her that he loved her? He wasn't sure, but it made her incredibly happy, anyway.

He smiled and went to sleep.

* * *

That was by far the most romantic moment between them. Everyday after that, Momoka tried to work up the courage to tell him that she was in love with him, but never did. Sometimes Fuyuki would blush around her but she wouldn't notice.

But finally she realized that she had to talk to him. She had been gone eight months and she was sure her parents were worried. She couldn't be on this adventure forever. She had to go home.

"Fuyuki, I need you to take me home. My parents are probably worried about me. I can't stay here forever. Look, I can pay you and Keroro to take me home... for your troubles." She gave him a soft smile.

She assumed he'd be kind about it and immediately ask Keroro to change courses. Instead there was a look of sheer panic on his face.

"You want to leave? Leave our boat? Leave the sea?" Fuyuki asked.

"You can visit me on land if you want..." Momoka smiled. "But I belong there, on land. Being a heiress. Not as a pirate," she told him sadly, squeezing his hand. "I know you know this, too."

Sheer panic and devastation took over Fuyuki's face. He hugged her, pulling her into his arms, and Momoka was shocked by the gesture as she leaned into him. Was this the love confession she was waiting for?

"I'm sorry, Momoka. I can't let you. Nobody must leave this boat. Please... just stay." She felt herself collapsing, her eyes growing heavy. "I'll keep you here, forever, Momoka. A pirate's always going to keep his treasure, even if it was an unintentional treasure. I'm sorry. But I know you'll like it here. And someday... we'll go to land."

And she collapsed. _Fuyuki... what's going on?_

* * *

 **PRESENT**

Fuyuki sat in the bed of the first mate's chambers, playing with the ship's globe as he waited for the first mate. Soon enough, the door opened.

Just as in Fuyuki's dreams, a hooded, cloaked version of himself entered. Fuyuki's eyes widened when the other Fuyuki smiled at him, removing his hood.

"So you came, just like I wanted. I told Keroro to attack that ship and gather you," said the other Fuyuki.

"But... sis said I was dead!" Fuyuki looked shocked. The answers he had been searching for, the person who had been calling for him... It would all be answered.

The other Fuyuki chuckled. "You will be." He gave an almost evil smile and pulled out a small shiny dagger. Then he charged at Fuyuki.

Fuyuki tried to dodge, but was so pathetic that instead he pressed his hand against Fuyuki's to knock the dagger out of his hand. The other Fuyuki couldn't be much stronger than him. They were _both_ weaklings.

The other Fuyuki gasped and clutched at his heart. Fuyuki's mind turned to static for a moment, like the channel was changing in his head. All he saw was the other Fuyuki's moving lips without knowing what he was saying.

He dropped to the ground. The loud blaring and static continued as everything glitched out, and soon he had collapsed on the floor.

 _I guess people from other dimensions who are the same can't touch,_ he realized.

* * *

He awoke in a dungeon. He had assumed Keroro didn't have one of those, since he hadn't even suggested imprisoning him. It looked like any other room made of wood, but had iron bars in front of it.

"Who's there?" Fuyuki would have recognized the voice in the cell next to him _anywhere_ \- Momoka's.

"Momoka?" Fuyuki asked, curiously pulling himself next to the cell near his. He saw her sitting down in a chair. She looked completely fine, besides being in a cell. Fuyuki wanted to cry.

 _She's fine! I knew Koyuki was right! She's alive!_ he smiled.

"Fuyuki?" Momoka asked. "Is there something you need? Did you accidentally lock yourself into a cell?"

He shook his head. "I collapsed and awoke here."

Momoka frowned. "Well... I can't help you, then. A similar thing happened to me. Kind of... I mean, I also know _you_ put me here, so that's a bit different."

"I didn't put you there! I would never imprison you! I'm just confused how you're alive. Everybody said you died of sickness a month ago. I'm so confused. And I'm alive too... And I tried to stab me..." Fuyuki was shaking. What was going on?

He wanted to cry. He wanted to go home, but he was also happy Momoka was alive.

"Shh... shh... It's okay." Momoka could hear Fuyuki's tears. "I'm not even that mad at you. I'm mostly confused. I pity you. But why did you try to stab yourself? And why does everybody think I died? I suppose I've seen the same thing happen... Whenever I interact with someone, they look so surprised that I'm alive saying I died of sickness. They promise to free me and then leave, but the next time I see them... They've forgotten our whole previous conversation. I'm clearly not dead, but they never remember that." She frowned.

"Geez, I'm so sorry," Fuyuki apologized. "That sounds awful! You shouldn't be imprisoned."

"Why did you do it, anyway? I just said I needed to go home," said Momoka. "I suppose you're too unstable at the moment to answer." She took a sip of tea. "You're shaking and crying and you always dodge the question, anyway. It's all right. At least now we can talk and spend some time together until someone comes and busts us out."

She didn't seem mad at him, and for that Fuyuki was confused. He was happy he was alive, but she really should have been mad.

She _was_ honestly a little mad, but even if Fuyuki had imprisoned her she still loved him. And him in a cell next to her meant they could spend some time together.

Fuyuki just was confused. He wanted to know what was going on. But he'd have to wait for someone to free him.

* * *

 **Things will be explained later about Fuyuki.**

 **Please review**


	14. Redemption

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **More Other world Fuyuki stuff, reveal of his plan.**

* * *

Natsumi sat in her new room. Her body was filled with anger at the circumstances.

Keroro may have acted nice, but she was his prisoner. One of the greatest Pirate Lords in the land and she had been beaten, she and Saburo both. And now she was being held in captivity.

She tried pounding on her door, kicking at it, but there was nothing. It didn't even shake.

 _I suppose it wouldn't. This is the Lord of Terror's old ship, isn't it?_ She had heard about the mysterious vessel filled with power. Her overconfidence had told her if she ever happened upon it, she could take it for herself, but she could not. It only obeyed one command and that was apparently Keroro's now.

How had he done it? How had Keroro gone so far? How had he achieved so much?

"Saburo?" Natsumi called. She wanted to speak to the other Pirate Lord who was in the room next to hers. But the walls were very sound-proof. Nothing could be heard. "G-Giroro?" She called for Giroro, but yet again nothing.

Nobody was there. She was on her own.

She fell to the ground against the wall. Her own human strength couldn't beat the supernatural.

* * *

Eventually the door opened. Natsumi assumed whoever was coming in had her rations, her food for dinner. The kid that was Saburo's ship's cabin boy walked in. He had called himself Fuyuki, claimed he was her brother. She didn't really believe him.

He was dressed differently now. He wore a cloak, way more appropriate for her world's style than his previous attire.

"You fit in easily with our captures," Natsumi sneered.

Fuyuki set down her food. "I believe you're Natsumi, correct?"

"You know me. I fought Saburo, remember?"

Fuyuki shook his head. "That wasn't me. Apparently it was another guy from some sort of different dimension." He outstretched his hand. "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Fuyuki."

Natsumi frowned suspiciously. So the other guy who claimed he was her brother from a different world had been telling the truth? So was that her brother?

And why did this Fuyuki look exactly the same? "Natsumi. One of the three Pirate Lords," she greeted.

Fuyuki looked at her expectantly, as if waiting for her to say something. Natsumi tore off some of the meat of her chicken breast with her teeth.

"Spit it out," she ordered.

"Apparently... you're my older sister. I believe we were separated when we were younger..." he started.

"That's bullshit. My brother drowned. I remember it precisely," she said as she chewed.

Fuyuki bit his lip. She could tell it was turning slightly blue. "Do you really? How young were you? How young was I? Memories sometimes warp themselves, especially when we're younger..."

Natsumi stood up. "I remember. You don't just make up someone dying! My mother grieved until she died and my father left after that, so don't you dare impersonate my brother."

Fuyuki frowned. "I'm sorry, sis—Natsumi," he apologized, "I thought you'd greet me with open arms. That's why I asked Keroro to go find you."

"What's your connection to that stupid frog?" Natsumi asked.

Fuyuki smiled. "I'm his first mate!" he proudly stated. "Don't worry, while you're aboard this ship, you, your crew, and your friends are safe," he assured.

Natsumi frowned. So it was he who had asked Keroro not to kill her and to imprison her. "Why do you believe you're my brother? Did that idiot from the other world tell you you were? And if you didn't drown, what happened?"

Fuyuki looked down. "I did fall into the water that day... I was so young, I barely remembered it. I barely remembered _you_ until a thought struck me recently about my family and what they were doing," he confessed. "As I struggled in the water, I managed to grab onto a plank of wood instead of drowning. Mom or Dad must have missed me or something, or thought something else was me... I drifted in the ocean for a while but was rescued by pirates. They saved me..." he smiled warmly.

Natsumi frowned. _That was the same for me. Pirates saved me and gave me a life..._ Could it be? He did look a lot like her mother. He had the same name as her brother, certainly... But he probably wouldn't remember anything about their parents. He was only four when he drowned.

Despite herself, tears rolled down her cheek. She wanted to believe he was alive, but then that would mean that her parents left her due to a silly misunderstanding.

"Sis...? I mean, Natsumi? You probably don't want me calling you 'sister' yet... Are you okay?" Fuyuki tilted his head to the side, curious.

"You can call me sister... If you really want to." Natsumi didn't care. She so desperately wanted her brother back. And so she pulled Fuyuki into her arms, crying.

As she cried, she forgot a vital detail in Fuyuki's and her past. Fuyuki couldn't have grabbed a plank of wood. His body was too weak from sickness. But she so desperately wanted to believe his story that she conveniently forgot.

Fuyuki wrapped his arms around his sister's back. "I'm so glad Keroro reunited us. Don't worry, you and your friends have free run of the ship. You're not imprisoned here. But please... Stay with me a little bit. I want to get to know you."

Natsumi nodded.

"My..." Fuyuki paused for a moment as he pet her hair. "...beloved sister." The word "beloved" sounded foreign on his tongue, but he smiled anyway.

* * *

"So he just let us go like that?" Giroro asked. Natsumi was smiling. She couldn't stop the smile that was across her face. She instantly trusted Fuyuki. There wasn't anything not to trust.

"Yes! But... I think we should spend some time with him. I mean, I got my family back. That's okay right? I can be selfish about this," she nodded to herself.

Giroro narrowed his eyes. "Of course you can. You deserve a family." He remembered the saying "It's too good to be true." Personally he didn't trust this. Two people who looked exactly the same? One who claimed he was from a different world and the other who claimed to be a dead relative?

Something was fishy about this. But he couldn't destroy Natsumi's happiness. He had to let her dream.

 _I'll protect her from the shadows. I don't trust this Fuyuki guy. No way could Keroro get successful on his own, but with the aid of someone else...There's something very wrong about this guy._ And if he was after Natsumi, well... Giroro gripped the gun at his side. He wouldn't let anything happen to her.

He would protect her. He had long since accepted that his heart was stolen by her, and no way was Fuyuki going to hurt her. But he had no evidence to back his claim to be suspicious of the Fuyukis.

He'd have to lie in wait to see.

* * *

Fuyuki walked into his room, laughing. His reunion with Natsumi had gone exactly like planned, and his other self was already in the dungeon.

He tore off his cloak and sat down in his cushy bed.

"I finally found her... My family." He hadn't honestly expected the other Fuyuki to be with her, but it worked out for him. "What did she like saying again? You could say, killing two birds with one stone?" Fuyuki chuckled. "Well... she's dead, so she wasn't really even in the equation."

He leaned back into his bed. He only had two steps left. _Thanks, Momoka. You gave me the spell for power. I didn't know those last few steps without you._ Right now he had to focus on the hardest, though. Getting the heart of someone he loved.

His goal was simple - become more powerful than the gods themselves. And unlike the witch in the storybooks, he would achieve his goal. He could feel love; he had people he loved a lot. The problem was that he loved them too much to kill them.

Momoka... Momoka wasn't even something he would consider killing for his end goal. He loved her too much. And Keroro, he had befriended before he had even known he needed the heart of someone he loved. Keroro was his best friend. Although he wanted the power, he didn't want to have to kill Keroro if he had to.

This made it harder to find someone he loved, when the two people he loved the most he didn't want to kill. This had lead Fuyuki to finally wonder what his family was up to. _After all, family bond is one of the strongest bonds in the world. Blood is thicker than water is what they say._ The bond of family... he could easily grow to love a family member, even if the end result of that love was to carve out their heart.

It had been easy enough to find out that he had a sister and what she was up to - One of the three Pirate Lords, Natsumi Hinata. The perfect candidate.

His plan was simple - gain her trust, but most importantly, get himself to love her. His love was what he was after. And then, once he cared about her, he would kill her.

Natsumi's death would be his.

* * *

Fuyuki needed four things to become more powerful than the gods. Sure, he had some magical powers, and was supernatural and strong, but he was nowhere near as strong as the gods. And he hated them for what they had done to him. He would have his revenge.

He had two of the four items: the eye of someone filled with regret, and a soul with spiritual potential. After much hardship and conning he'd obtained these items, and he was on the way of getting Natsumi's heart, but drinking his own blood was having some problems.

For one thing, he couldn't touch the other world's Fuyuki. He had managed to use a spell book to summon a portal and contact him from another world just so he could bring the poor sap over to die. But he couldn't touch him.

He still needed him dead, though.

"I suppose I'll have to use _him_ again." Fuyuki sighed. Easy enough. He walked down to Saburo's room, which was next to Natsumi's. Luckily the doors were sound proof.

Opening the door, Saburo looked up.

"Fuyuki!" he smiled. His smile dropped at the weird clothes that Fuyuki was wearing. "Where's your other outfit? That one was cuter..."

"I'm not that other Fuyuki," Fuyuki corrected. "I'm _your_ world's Fuyuki. Don't you recognize me?" They had met before. Fuyuki frowned at him.

Saburo shook his head.

Fuyuki sighed and put his hood over his eyes.

"Oh! You're—" Saburo's face turned pale. "Wait... the Fuyuki from my world... is you?" He looked terrified.

"Yes. I suppose it's odd how much a person can change. For example, I'm not an idiot _here_ , right?" Fuyuki smiled. He inspected his fingers "I have another job for you."

"No!" Saburo shook his head, inching toward the wall. His body was shaking. "I'm not falling for it again!"

"Why not, Saburo? You were so compliant last time when I needed to get rid of someone. And I can grant you more power... More of your wishes," Fuyuki grinned. "What did I give you last time for that little job again? Your own ship? A treasure island that nobody could find?"

Saburo touched his talisman subconsciously. "And... this magical talisman that made my ship invisible." He knew the magical power it held. He looked solemn. He had never told even his best friend Kululu that he had gotten it out of a deal. He had claimed he stole it.

"Yes. I made you a Pirate Lord, whether you care to admit it or not. You wouldn't be where you are today without me. But I can give you more," he said. "What's wrong Saburo? You were so willing to work for me last time..."

"I killed someone! You asked me to kill someone!" he yelled.

Fuyuki tossed Saburo a dagger. It was still coated with light purple blood. "You hated her. You were more than willing to kill her. That's why I chose you for the job. And now we're partners. Your secret, my secret, they're all the same. Why regret it now?"

Saburo looked down at the dagger, his face pale with regret. It had been his deepest, darkest secret, the evil that nobody must know. "I thought she was just pure evil. I thought I was helping people by getting rid of her. But the next town I went to I found someone looking for her, waiting for her to come home. I didn't know... I didn't know she had people that cared about her. I had just assumed she was pure evil and didn't have a family, friends, a lover. But I took her life, and ruined theirs. They aren't the same without her. My best friend Kululu, he constantly misses her. Wonders who killed her, how she died! And he has no idea it was me! He thinks I'm some sort of good person because I offered to help him bring her back, but I wasn't."

"You were just trying to deal with your own regret. Trying to make yourself a good person again. There's never any clear good and evil. Even evil people you kill will have loved ones," Fuyuki told him. "But you can't go back now. You're a killer. _My_ killer, Saburo." He smiled at him, tilting his chin up to make him face him. "You ruined your best friend's life. And now you'll ruin your other friend's."

"Wh-what... What do you mean? You can't make me do it!" Saburo tried to shake his head, but he knew how powerful Fuyuki was. For once, he was scared. This guy gave him chills.

"You'll kill the other Fuyuki for me, drain his blood and give it to me," Fuyuki ordered, "or else I'll expose you for everything you are. I will kill you. But if you work for me, I'll make you the lord of the ocean. You'll be the top pirate. I'll give you more powerful charms."

Saburo's face paled. His hand wrapped around the dagger. "I... I don't want to kill Fuyuki. He's nice. Unlike you." He knew they were so different.

"You're going to. Unless you want me to rip out your heart right now," Fuyuki threatened, his hand on Saburo's chest. Saburo shivered. Fuyuki's grip was so icy.

 _No. Never again. I vowed after meeting Kululu to never kill someone from this guy's orders again._ But he couldn't outright refuse. Fuyuki would just find someone else. He had to be smart.

"Fine." He put the dagger in his cloak. "But I better have a great reward."

"You will," Fuyuki assured.

 _I'll fake his death. I'll save Fuyuki. I'll do what I should have done with her._ He closed his eyes, trying to erase the memory of his first kill - the Lord of Terror herself. He could still remember her body in the water. She hadn't been anything that he had expected. She should have been cruel, tough. Instead she had this kind and innocent demeanor. He hadn't known how to attack her, but she had invited him on her ship for tea. There had been no formal battle; he'd just stabbed her in the back. He'd thought he had been doing good. But then he met Kululu, who dearly missed her.

"C-can... Can I ask you just one thing?" Saburo asked. He had always wondered it. He hadn't asked it when he had been told the job, to kill the Lord of Terror because he had just assumed anyone would want to kill her, but Fuyuki didn't act with the good of everyone in mind. "Why did you order me to kill Mois? Why did you want her dead?"

"A lot of things. But mainly it was because of her ship," said Fuyuki. "The souls of the people she kills are imprisoned here..."

Saburo frowned. So it _was_ honest.

"Instead of becoming mine like they deserve. You should know who I am, Saburo. After all, you brought your friend to see me." Fuyuki smiled.

Saburo gasped as he suddenly remembered. "The... God of the Dead?"

"No," said Fuyuki with a frown. "I'm only employed by them. I rule all the souls who die at sea. However, she was my competition. She killed lots of people and scared them away from the sea. So... more souls for her, and none for me." He shrugged. "But she's mine now. So I guess things ended well."

He pat Saburo's head. "Now go! Kill Fuyuki for me."

Saburo frowned. So he had toppled one dictator of the ocean and installed another? He was terrible.

* * *

Saburo only trusted one person to help him plot to fake someone's death - Kululu, his best friend.

He brought Kululu to his chambers.

"I just don't understand. How did that idiot get her ship?" Kululu asked still frazzled. And he didn't understand why they were all being treated so nicely.

 _It's because when Mois died, all her stuff probably went to Fuyuki, since her life was under his control. He probably gave it to Keroro,_ Saburo realized.

"I don't know," Saburo lied. He sat down on his bed. "Buddy... I need your help."

"To break out of here? I gotcha, I already have a plan. Ku, ku, ku."

"No. This is much more serious." Saburo ran his fingers through his hair. "I need your genius to help me make a fake body with fake blood. You're a surgeon so you know all about organs and such."

"Faking someone's death?" Kululu's interest was piqued.

Saburo looked at him awkwardly. He couldn't _not_ tell Kululu about what was going on. "Fuyuki's," he told him.

Kululu understood. "Does Keroro want him dead?"

"No. The other Fuyuki does." Saburo sighed. "He wouldn't let me refuse. But I'm not going to let Fuyuki die. He's sweet, pure, and my friend. I'm going to protect him no matter what."

Kululu started drawing up some plans. "I can understand that. If I met another world's me, I'd probably try to kill him, too. Ku, ku, ku! Can you imagine two Kululus? I doubt we'd get along. We'd probably both try to be jerks to each other!" He laughed again. Saburo didn't listen to him.

"Never again am I going to kill someone under his orders. I won't make that mistake..." He thought he was talking to himself.

Kululu looked up for a moment. "So you did meet our world's Fuyuki?" he asked. Saburo seemed silent and solemn, mostly worried for Fuyuki. But Kululu noticed a face filled with regret, too.

 _He doesn't tell me much about his past before I met him. And what he does tell me usually changes. He won't tell me key details like how he became so powerful as a pirate so quickly..._ Kululu paused for a moment. Becoming a pirate quickly... That actually sounded similar to Keroro's story! Did they have some sort of connection? Had their world's Fuyuki given something to Saburo and Keroro to make them stronger?

"Why didn't you tell Fuyuki you met the one from our world?" Kululu asked.

"I didn't realize it. He was wearing something covering his eyes and hair." Saburo clued into reality. "I didn't want to think about it. My encounter with him was something I dearly regret."

Kululu nodded. It was best not to pry, then.

He started working away on Fuyuki's fake body, leaving Saburo to think. He wanted to give him his space. He respected him.

"What's going to be the murder weapon?" Kululu finally asked.

"This." Saburo pulled out a dagger, the one Fuyuki had given him. He handed it to Kululu and Kululu examined it closely.

"Interested by blades or something?" Saburo asked. But slowly, as Kululu stared at it, he realized what he was looking at.

It was the same weapon that he had used in the last murder, and although the blood had dried, it was still there. If Kululu knew anything about Angolians he'd know it was Angolian blood.

And he was certain that Kululu did know.

But he did.

Slowly Kululu stared and started putting the pieces together. There had never been any rumors that Angol Mois was dead when they went to towns - in fact, everybody had just said the Lord of Terror disappeared. But when Kululu asked Saburo, he'd clearly said she was dead soon before the news reached everyone else.

Like he had been there.

Words swirled around Kululu's head - Saburo's regret, how he had been employed before, and how Fuyuki and Keroro had Mois's ship.

"You were the one that killed her, weren't you?" Kululu's voice was quiet. There was no laughter in it.

"Kululu... listen..." Saburo tried to beg. The secret he had tried to hide from Kululu for so long was finally out in the open.

"This is her blood. She accidentally cut her fingers once on a knife, chopping vegetables. I should know it. You knew she was dead when nobody else did. You offered to help me not because you were being nice or something, but because you wanted to help end your guilt." Kululu's voice rose as he became more enraged.

"I'm sorry." Saburo couldn't even offer an excuse. "I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want you to hate me. You're truly my friend... And - "

"You killed her! I loved her so much, more than anything!" Kululu yelled. "I don't care what reason you had, you killed the person most important to me." He turned the knife in his hand and pointed it at Saburo.

"Kululu..." Saburo saw the anger in his eyes. Kululu had all intent to kill him. "I'm sorry," was all he could offer.

Kululu charged. Saburo jumped over his small body. Quickly, he grabbed his blankets and twirled them into some sort of rope as Kululu chased after him.

"I'm going to kill you, you traitorous, vile little - " Kululu was tied up by Saburo's ropes. He struggled to escape, but Saburo didn't let him.

"I don't want to die, but I also have to make things right. I have to save Fuyuki. I'm sorry," Saburo told him. He pulled the dagger out of Kululu's hand. "I'll talk to you later..." He knew their friendship was as good as over. He couldn't return what he had taken from Kululu, and if he was on his own he would cry, but he had a mission to do.

"I'll talk to you _never_ ," Kululu glared. "You're lucky you're faster than me, or else I would have cut your throat. Was that how you killed her? Or was it some other method?"

"In the back," Saburo admitted, wincing as he said it. Why was he such an idiot?

"Oh. Well then, thank you for correcting me - I'll wait till you're asleep and then stab you in the back."

Saburo frowned. He held onto his hat and ran out of the room to find Fuyuki. He'd do it in the night, when nobody could see.

* * *

Fuyuki had finally picked the lock of his cell. He was lucky he was so smart.

"Momoka?" He approached his friend's cell. "I'm going to free you now..." He put his hands on the bars, but he was zapped. "AUGH!"

"It's magic. You won't be able to free me," Momoka told him. "But it's all right. Go do your thing. Just... come back please, Fuyuki. And release your magic."

Fuyuki frowned. Magic? Could he wield magic?

"I will! I'll figure out what's going on! I promise to come back for you!" he told her. He ran off away from Momoka's cell.

As soon as he got out of the vicinity, he started feeling hazy as if something was wrong. Like Momoka had never been there. He grabbed a table to steady himself, knocking a plate off the way and letting it shatter on the ground.

He saw some writing. _Illusion magic ahead. You have to remember Momocchi apparently! You've come here twenty seven times, don't forget her again. You said you'd free her. She isn't dead_ \- The sentence was scribbled out. - _Wait, yeah she is. She died of sickness a month ago, right? Ahhh I'm confused._

 _-Tamama_

Fuyuki frowned. So it was illusion magic. Thank god for his thick head and willpower. "I'm going to remember you, Momoka." She wasn't dead.

Breathing in and out, he remembered, and was able to dispel the illusion for at least him. It was easier, since the other version of him had cast the magic.

And he ran off.

* * *

It was midnight and the ship was dark. Fuyuki was on the top deck. The only other person awake was Saburo, probably keeping watch as the ship drifted.

"Saburo!" Fuyuki said. "Thank god you're here. I need to leave. I met the other me and he tried to kill me - "

"I know," Saburo told him. He scratched Fuyuki with the blade. "I know."

Fuyuki's cheek started bleeding. Fuyuki put his hand on it. "S-Saburo?"

"Just needed some real blood. Sorry, Fuyuki," he apologized.

Fuyuki took a step back. "What's going on?"

"I'm saving your life. I can't help you get home. I'm sorry," he spoke. "A row boat is set up for you. Get into it." Saburo pulled out a dummy's body that resembled Fuyuki.

Fuyuki looked confused. Saburo sighed.

"You have to go. I know about the other Fuyuki trying to kill you, because he's forcing me to kill you too!" he whispered. "I'm not going to. We're going to fake your death, but you have to get way away from here..."

"Wait, so he _does_ want me dead? Why? Can't we just talk it out?" Fuyuki was confused.

"No. He's way evil. He killed Mois, Fuyuki. And he's the one who took Kululu's eye," he said. " _The other you is evil_."

Fuyuki looked terrified. Killed Mois? Took Kululu's eye? Was he capable of such things?

"But you aren't evil yourself. And I promise to protect you. Now please get into the boat," Saburo requested. He handed his talisman to him. "This will make you invisible. You'll get away then."

"What about you? Why can't you come with?" Fuyuki asked.

"Because I have to stay up here to continue the charade that I killed you. Go to land, Fuyuki. I doubt he can touch it. He's like the god of people who died at sea or something," he told him.

Fuyuki shook his head. "I'm not leaving you!"

Saburo pushed him into the row boat and cut down the ropes. Fuyuki plopped into the water.

"You don't get a choice. Row away! Please! Let me do this one good thing!" Saburo begged. "This isn't your world. I won't let you die in it."

Fuyuki looked up at Saburo's pale face. A face filled with regret. Things were serious here, and if he stayed he would really die.

He couldn't just leave his friends, but he couldn't stay either. "Fine." He had to agree with Saburo's plan. "Fake my death."

He would help them some other way, far away. He'd figure out what Fuyuki was up to and stop him. After all, the other Fuyuki couldn't be any tougher than himself. He'd confront his own evil.

Saburo breathed a sigh of relief. "Get rowing then!" he ordered.

Fuyuki rowed until his arms were tired. Soon enough, the foggy ship was gone.

And he was all alone again.

* * *

 **I like this story's Saburo.**

 **Please review**


	15. Willpower

**Sorry it's long. I had more to cover in this chapter than I had thought.**

 **I feel like this story is just a whole bunch of greek myth rip-offs. And I am probably right.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Fuyuki rowed slowly through the cold, harsh waters. The sky was dark and his hands were coarse with calluses. The water was churning under him. He didn't know what to do.

 _My other self is trying to kill me,_ he reminded himself. His other self was pure evil. He had imprisoned Momoka and attempted to murder him. He had taken Kululu's eye and was like the god of people who died at sea or something, in Saburo's words.

And Saburo... Well, just like the Saburo in his world, he was heroic. He had put his own life in danger to protect him. Fuyuki didn't know what his other self would do to Saburo once he found out. But he was afraid for him.

 _I'm not ready for this sort of adventure. I'm just an occult maniac. This world isn't my life._ But he had to save Saburo like Saburo had saved him. He had to save Momoka, like he had promised.

But what could he do? He was in the middle of the ocean.

 _He's the rules the souls of those who died at sea, right?_ Fuyuki recalled Saburo telling him. He had two choices now, cause some trouble in the other Fuyuki's realm in the hope that it would divert Fuyuki's attention away, or run away and live.

And no way was he going to leave his friends alone. He had to choose the dangerous choice. Hell, it wasn't even much of a choice. He had always known.

 _The Land of the Dead at least for people who died at sea is somewhere, right?_ Kululu had gotten to it. So maybe he could, too. And then he could break in and figure out what he could use to beat his other self.

He just had to use some standard mythology and remember Kululu and Saburo's instructions. And he was very good at standard mythology.

* * *

He rowed in one direction indefinitely. He rowed and rowed as hard as he could. Nothing attacked him, since his rowboat was invisible.

He continued rowing until he got to a waterfall in the sea. He had seen enough movies to know where this was going.

 _I'm sure my arms are going to be strong after all this rowing. I won't be weak anymore!_ No longer would he have pathetic stick arms. There was hope for him yet in gym class.

Fuyuki thought about the wrong thing as he let his boat plummet off the waterfall, and he screamed, despite himself knowing that if he fell into the water he would drown.

He just had to have hope. He had to risk something to gain something. He needed to save his friends and to do that he needed to risk his life.

* * *

He woke up with sand in his mouth. Coughing, he saw his small rowboat upside-down on a sandy shore.

"This doesn't look like a dead land. It looks like a beach!" he deciphered. It hadn't been as scary and dark and gloomy as Kululu had described. Was he in the right place?

Fuyuki wandered around aimlessly on the beach, and eventually the sand faded away and a door appeared opening up to a cavern with a staircase.

Fuyuki smiled. It was the right place!

Carefully, he took his steps down the staircase waiting for this land of the dead to attack him or something.

* * *

Nothing attacked Fuyuki. In fact, when he stepped down the staircase, candlesticks set themselves aflame, lighting up.

He eventually got down to a throne that he assumed the other him had sat in to deal with business. A locked door was behind the throne where souls were actually shuffled. Fuyuki gulped. How could he beat a locked door?  
He knocked.

"Welcome, Master Fuyuki." There was a booming voice and the door opened itself. Fuyuki's jaw dropped open as he saw a river with yet another terrible rowboat that he had to use. _No... not more exercise!_

But he also smiled. The door had let him in. That meant that it was possible that his trip was so easy because this realm acknowledged him as the ruler and couldn't tell the difference between his other self and him.

 _Maybe I can find a weapon or something to use against him to get stronger!_ Fuyuki sat down in the row boat and started rowing again. Various souls were in their own boats, traveling throughout the river and stream. Sometimes their boats would topple over. Fuyuki avoided their gaze. _A weapon... A weapon..._ Fuyuki couldn't think of any sort of weapon to use to save both Momoka AND Saburo.

Then it hit him. The other Fuyuki himself was standing on a weapon, the ghost ship that was under his and Keroro's possession. It had probably come under his control after Angol Mois died at sea. But it wasn't fully Fuyuki's. Mois was the true owner. Her ship could be used as a weapon.

 _Mois's here. If I can talk some sense into her and free her... Well, I might have the upper hand over my other self,_ Fuyuki smiled. "Boat. Take me to Mois." He didn't know if that was how to get directions in this weird place, but apparently it was, because his rowboat changed courses.

What was the saddest about his rowboat changing courses was it confirmed it was magical and probably didn't even need to be rowed. He had made himself sore for nothing.

* * *

Eventually his boat ported on a strange rocky beach framed by cliffsides. The water from the river splashed against it like a dark, gloomy ocean.

"Mois! Mois! Are you here?" Fuyuki called. He heard a bird screeching. That didn't sound anything like Mois. "Please shout if you are not a bird," he requested.

"Auuuuughhh..." A distant, pained moan was let out on the higher side of the cliffside. Fuyuki frowned. So that was how it was going to be - he was going to have to climb the cliff.

 _I never knew beating my evil self would involve SO much exercise._ Fuyuki was already tired. But he grabbed some rocks and climbed up.

* * *

Eventually he was more out of breath than Mois was, even when he did see her face and how much pain she was in. She was strapped to two rocks, chains around her arms and legs while a few giant birds pecked at her. Blood was pouring down her body, but sometimes it would get sucked back up to start again.

 _Talk about a Promethean punishment._ He wondered if this world even had Greek myths. Honestly he felt nauseous just looking at what sick torture Fuyuki had concocted for her, with thick purple blood oozing out, her face flushed from pain.

"Wh-what do you want?" Angol Mois moaned out. "I thought you had what you needed from me already."

"J-just a second..." Fuyuki wheezed. "Need to catch my breath." He turned around to pant, not wanting to see her get tortured. Her screams filled his ears, though.

"You know, there's a rocky path you could have walked up instead of scaling the mountain," she sighed.

"Pyramids of Giza," Fuyuki swore in a way that would not even seem like a swear word. He turned around. "Hey, get away from her." He swatted away the birds. The birds cawed for a moment but left to give her a brief moment of peace. Her hands were still bruised from the chains.

"You must need something a lot if you got rid of them," she figured out, frowning.

"Listen, I'm not who you think I am," he insisted. "Can you really not tell the difference, either? I'm Fuyuki, sure. But I'm not from this world. I come from a different dimension."

Mois's mouth opened. Instead of disbelieving this, she believed it instantly. "He's going onto that plan, isn't he? To drink his own blood? You were brought here so he could kill you..." she realized.

Fuyuki smiled. "I'm so glad you believe me!"

"So if you're here, are you dead too?" she wondered.

Fuyuki shook his head. "I escaped with the aid of Saburo."

Mois furrowed her brow. She didn't recognize that name.

"Kululu's friend," Fuyuki said.

Her expression softened. So after her death, Kululu had been able to move on and make other friends. She was happy for him, but a part of her felt a little sad that he had forgotten about her just as he had promised he wouldn't. But she wanted him to be happy and she was fine with him being happy with others. "If you escaped, why did you come here? Why not land where you'd be safe?" she asked. "You could say, you can hide but you can't run?"

"I... I didn't want to run away. I wanted to stop him."

"Do you even know what he's trying to do?"

"Evil, probably." He shrugged. "He wants to kill me. That's his plot. And once he finds out Saburo hasn't done it, Saburo's in danger."

Mois shook her head. "He doesn't just want to kill you. I've been around this lesser god a lot, mostly being tortured by him. But I've picked up a few things. He hates the gods, the real ones. He wasn't born into the position - he was appointed when he was very young and died at sea. He's like their slave. But he's gotten greedy and doesn't like his position anymore," she told him. "At first he wanted power, more people under his control, so he got rid of me. And now he wants enough power to take down the gods themselves. However, there's only one spell that can do that. It takes four main ingredients..."

"And my death is involved in one of those ingredients?" he guessed. Four ingredients sounded tough. He had hoped beating himself would be easy, but apparently they had to prevent him from harvesting all four ingredients to his plan.

"Yes. Along with three others." She sounded patient as she explained the other Fuyuki's quest to him. "A spiritual soul aligned with the gods... That's me." She smiled kind of proudly. "An eye of someone filled with regret."

"That's Kululu's eye, isn't it?" Fuyuki frowned. So the other Fuyuki already had half of his ingredients.

Mois frowned. "Kululu lost his eye?" She hadn't known about this. She looked very concerned and worried.

Fuyuki nodded. "What are the other two ingredients?"

"Drinking his own blood - or the blood of you, his other self," she said. "And then the last thing he needs... the heart of someone he loves."

Fuyuki's face turned pale. Momoka. She was imprisoned back on that ship. Or if he decided not to use Momoka, he could have an easy picking of either Keroro or Natsumi. He cared for both of them. "We have to stop him at whatever cost." This was more serious than just saving a friend now. The people he loved dearly... they were in danger from a nightmarish version of himself. He couldn't bare even another world version of them being hurt.

Mois frowned. "We?"

"I came here to get you. He's got your ship and I thought... Well, I thought you could control it. You're one of the ingredients. So I need to free you. Get you out of this land," he said. "I'm here to save you, Mois. You didn't deserve to die. Heck, in my world you aren't dead! You're happy and alive and doing fine." He quickly touched her chains, and the world, acknowledging him as its master, broke the chains.

Mois gasped as she fell down. She rubbed her wrists but gave him a sad smile. "Freeing me from my eternal torture doesn't make me alive, you know."

"But you aren't really dead though, are you?" he asked. "I mean, not like death means in _my_ world. You almost got out until Kululu looked over his shoulder... Uhh, you don't hold anything against him about that, do you?"

"I don't ever hold anything against Kululu. I love him and what he did was just an anxious move on his part. I pity him." She continued rubbing her wrists. She knew Fuyuki was probably well-acquainted with Kululu if he knew him so well. Kululu could have used such a friendly person in his life. "But I assure you that I am dead. I can't get out of here. My life force, my soul, is held in something that the other Fuyuki, not you, holds. A crystal ball. So I can't leave the land without it."

Fuyuki frowned. "If you believe in yourself enough - " He was about to lecture her in willpower.

She turned around and started removing her shirt.

"AHH!" Fuyuki screamed, covering his eyes. Kululu would kill him if he knew that Fuyuki had seen Mois half-naked. Well, this version of Kululu. His version, he wasn't too sure about.

"Don't cover your eyes." Mois's voice was soft and sympathetic. "Please, look at me."

Fuyuki's face turned bright red, but Mois was able to pry his hands off of his face. _Is she hitting on me...?_ But he soon realized the one moment he hadn't been oblivious was actually false. She didn't want him to check her out, she wanted to show him something on her back. It was a deep scar of where the knife had gone into her that killed her, and on her front, a large, black hole was there that had previously been covered by her shirt, but was quite clearly there now. She had wanted to show him that she was truly dead.

"Willpower won't fix this. I'm dead. You have to accept this, and Kululu... He also has to accept this. I cannot help, although I wish I could. I'm confined to this world," she admitted.

Fuyuki's confident smile dropped when he realized that Mois could not help him. His plan was falling to pieces.

 _No. That can not be. Maybe I can find the crystal ball he has with her soul and break it. Maybe then she'll be free,_ he thought. Or maybe he could free her on his own; after all, from what he had observed of this world, it wasn't that Fuyuki himself had power, it was that the gods in this world had granted him such and couldn't tell the difference now between them. The other Fuyuki might have known more spells, but he was aging at a normal rate, meaning he wasn't actually a real god. He was a much lesser spirit, and his true power was in the land that was now in Fuyuki's control. It had acknowledged his wishes at every turn, meaning he could free Mois. She just had to believe him.

"I'm not giving up on you, Mois. We're friends in my world and although I don't know you in this one, I'm not abandoning you," he spoke. _Plus, I seriously need you!_

She smiled. "You've done enough. Please... just leave."

"Let's find the crystal ball with your soul and free you. Let's shatter it so he can't use it," he suggested.

Mois winced. "I'm not sure if that would free me or erase me from existence." She thought for a moment, though. "But you know what my boyfriend used to say, it isn't science unless you experiment with something dangerous! You could say, let's go for it?" She did want to see Kululu again.

Fuyuki smiled. It was a good thing she was so compliant. It still creeped him out, her and Kululu dating though. Mostly how incredibly happy she was about it, like they were a good couple and she really loved him.

He was never ever going to mention this to anybody back home.

* * *

It was actually surprisingly easy to find the ball with Mois's soul. It was as if the world wanted him to succeed, acknowledging him as the true master. It was stored away in a room filled with treasures, boxes, and magical artifacts.

There was no eye, though, Fuyuki observed. Apparently discarded body parts weren't here. "Do you happen to know where he might have taken Kululu's eye?" he asked.

"It's a living body part from a living person. Thinking back on it, I did see him holding an eye a few times, I just didn't think it was Kululu's." She frowned. "He liked making the eye watch as I got tortured..." She shuddered, realizing if that was Kululu's eye, he might have seen some of that stuff.

"I guess that explains why he wore an eye patch," Fuyuki realized. He was trying to block out what he was seeing from the eye if it was still technically alive. But this meant the eye was probably on Fuyuki's person and the other Fuyuki needed to know he wasn't even close to attempting his goal so he wouldn't attempt to kill Fuyuki's beloved people anytime soon.

Fuyuki held up the crystal ball with Mois's soul. "So what's the change that you'll get erased if I break this?" he wondered.

"Eighty percent," she answered simply. "My soul is in there."

Fuyuki frowned. He didn't want her to die from existence itself. He wanted to free her. _Maybe I can up her chances... I don't fully believe willpower has nothing to do with her imprisonment here. I think if she believes, her chances of living will increase. It is possible; she's almost been given her life back before, and if I believe in the power of willpower this world will._ But the problem was that Mois was so certain she wouldn't live, maybe she had long since given up or didn't see the issue of her not coming back.

"Wh-why don't you write a good-bye letter, then, before we do this?" he asked. He had to figure out how to get Mois to really want to live to try her hardest and not disappear. "Just in case."

"A good-bye letter?" She tilted her head.

"To Kululu. I mean, before, you never had the chance to say good-bye to him. Don't you want to, just in case?"

"How would the letter get to him?" she wondered. "Oh! Maybe in a bottle like the first time," she smiled. She found some paper and a pen in the room full of treasures and happily hummed to herself as she eagerly wrote her good-bye letter.

Fuyuki frowned at her perky nature. She was fully believing that she'd die. This was bad. He looked over her shoulder at the letter, hoping to find out something he could use to help her be more determined to live.

 _Dear Kululu,_

 _I'm sorry for dying. I want you to know that in no way was it your fault. I appreciate you trying to help me, but it wasn't your fault for looking back, too. I know you're a bit anxious and it wasn't fair of Fuyuki to put you in that situation._

 _The truth of the matter is that I did leave, not by choice, but because I died. And saying that I would never leave was unrealistic, I didn't know what was going to happen to me. I should have focused on the happiness that was happening between us at the present moment instead of being worried about the future that your feelings would stop. I loved you for being you, not for being in love with me. I should have cared more for the present and I was happy to spend time with you._

 _I'm glad you've moved on and developed friendships with people like Saburo and the Good Fuyuki (that's what I'm calling him). I'm so happy that you have healthy friendships, and if I get erased from existence I want you to always know that I love you._

 _It doesn't matter that I'm dead now. It matters that we shared an amazing time together previously. And I want you to never forget that._

 _I forgive you, and I realized when you came for me that you loved me too. But I'm glad that you loved me enough to be able to move on instead of developing an unhealthy obsession with my death. Thank you for being able to be happy again, for the both of us._

 _Love,_

 _Mois_

Mois finished up her letter and smiled. Fuyuki grinned, too. He knew the way to get her to want to live. Kululu was the secret. He had risked his life for her, why wasn't it wrong to think that she would do the same?

 _I don't want to exploit her, but I'm going to have to._ He took a breath, preparing himself.

"It would be a pity, you know, if you disappeared," he told her. "I mean, I really need you to take control of your ship again."

She shook her head. "You'll beat Fuyuki. I believe in you."

"I believe more in _you_. I just mean... it's kind of a pity, seeing as Kululu's imprisoned on your ship at the moment by the other me," he started.

Mois paled. "Wh-what's he doing on a ship? My ship? Kululu's afraid of the water. He can't swim! He wouldn't ever go out to sea for me."

"Oh? You didn't hear? He became a pirate. But the other Fuyuki is the first mate of one of the three Pirate Lords." Fuyuki hummed for a moment absentmindedly. "I heard with pirates they kill other pirate crews. I hope that doesn't happen to Kululu! Ugh, I really wish there was someone who could control the ship Kululu was on..."

Mois paled. "No... No way is that other Fuyuki going to hurt Kululu." Her fingers balled up into a fist. "Break the ball. I'm not going to let anything hurt Kululu. I'll do something to protect him. We're going to beat that other Fuyuki," she vowed.

Fuyuki smiled and broke the crystal ball. Colors swirled around Mois, but she didn't disappear. She looked shocked. "How lucky! I'm alive and now we can beat Fuyuki."

"I think it had nothing to do with luck, Mois. Just love. And the ball chose to believe in your love and free your soul. Are you alive?" he asked.

Mois touched her chest. There was no longer a gaping hole but she could still feel a lot of scarring. "I'm good. Now, let's go get my ship."

Fuyuki nodded. He went out of the door, but Mois was a little too determined to help Kululu. She noticed a box lying on a pedestal and looked at it curiously.

"What's that?" Fuyuki asked, poking his head out of the door.

"Something to stop that other Fuyuki from getting more minions." She opened the box. Darkness blanketed the room like a nightmare, rushing out like a tornado. It was hard for Fuyuki to breathe.

"Wh-what... What is this?" he asked.

"Pestilence, famine. You could say, Pandora's box?" She smiled. "It only affects the land. If people die on land, they aren't Fuyuki's minions. We aren't going to the land so, we'll be fine. But Fuyuki won't be gaining many new souls. They'll be safe on the ocean." Mois's eyes were dark. She was going to take any sort of precaution to help Kululu.

Fuyuki frowned. He dearly regretted exploiting Mois's feelings because now she was ready to kill.

 _Just as I thought. Their love was a purely two-sided thing._ Fuyuki was pretty terrified of the box they had opened that was probably killing millions on land. Just because this wasn't his world didn't make him feel less bad either.

But they had a bunch of people to save.

* * *

He made Mois row back to her ship. His arms were too sore to do it himself. She was able to find it pretty easily, taking subtle control over it again, just enough for the other Fuyuki not to notice.

 _I leveled the playing field,_ Fuyuki smiled. With Mois on his side, his other self's enemy, he was more likely to save his friends.

He saw Saburo's ship sailing away from _Winter_. He hypothesized that the other Fuyuki had fallen for Saburo's trick and was letting him go free.

"What's that ship?" Mois asked.

"Kululu and Saburo's. Kululu's safe now," Fuyuki reassured. A part of him wanted to follow it, but he knew he had one more thing to do. He needed to steal Kululu's eye back from Fuyuki to assure that he was going after that ingredient instead of Natsumi's, Keroro's, or Momoka's life.

Mois breathed a sigh of relief. "That's a relief. My sweetie is safe!"

Fuyuki winced at Kululu being called a "sweetie." He was going to have nightmares about that for a while.

"I need to do one more thing on your ship. Can you get it to pick me up? Then we can plot what to do with Saburo and Kululu," Fuyuki told her.

"What do you need on my ship?" she asked.

"To free a friend, and to get your boyfriend's eyeball," Fuyuki told her. Ropes shot down to let Fuyuki back on.

"I'll be right back. Don't leave," Fuyuki begged.

"I won't," Mois promised.

* * *

He quickly ran to the dungeons. His bond with his other self had assured that he didn't forget Momoka and he was going to free her before Other Fuyuki could hurt her.

"You came back," Momoka smiled. "But you're not my Fuyuki. I realized that after you came here."

Fuyuki frowned. "I came to save you, to free you."

Momoka took a sip of tea. "I don't want to be saved. I like being with Fuyuki. I... I..." She blushed. "I love him!"

Fuyuki turned pink. Yeah, this world was definitely weird. "He's planning to kill you to get stronger than the gods!"

"No he isn't. He promised he'd never do that to me. I know he's planning to kill someone, he confided in me, but it isn't me," Momoka smiled. She fingered a pouch on her neck. "He gave me one of his ingredients to keep safe."

The way she fingered it, Fuyuki could tell it was small, spherical the thing in the pouch. And Fuyuki slowly realized it was Kululu's eye.

He was relieved that the other Fuyuki probably wouldn't kill Momoka. He had a lot of other people to choose from, and he had imprisoned her to keep her close to him. _Would I do the same if I was this evil?_ Fuyuki wondered. One thing that creeped him out was that Momoka didn't seem too bad with this, like she was preparing for the role of evil queen, happy to have an eye on her throat as a necklace.

She loved the other Fuyuki. Even if he was evil. And Fuyuki was halfway happy about that and half way concerned for Momoka because he hated this other Fuyuki.

 _I'm going to have to con her, too, aren't I?_ He had so many mixed feelings about conning people. It showed him that he had the capacity to be just like this other Fuyuki. A part of him could be evil, too, if he chose to be. But he was using it for a good cause.

"The other Fuyuki is dead. The one from the different world. I was just testing to see if you knew it was the real me." Fuyuki knew that he and the other Fuyuki looked exactly the same. He would just impersonate himself.

Momoka frowned. She couldn't actually tell the difference between the Fuyukis. "Wait... but I confessed to you!"

"I... uhhh... I know." He rubbed the back of his neck. He was very embarrassed. "I... I suppose I like you too. I mean, you're really cute, Momoka and a very good friend." Fuyuki was turning bright red because all of the stuff he was saying... wasn't a lie. He liked the Momoka from his world and had finally admitted it. But no way _she_ liked him; that was just out of this world! Literally, too.

He could see that relationships were different in this world, though. After all, Keroro and Tamama seemed a little tiny bit gay, Mois and Kululu were in love, Momoka was in love with him, and Giroro looked like he had a crush on Natsumi. None of that was in his world.

Was it?

Fuyuki was confused now.

"C-can... Can I hold your hand?" Fuyuki asked awkwardly.

Momoka put her hand between the bars, blushing. "Of course you can."

Fuyuki put his hand on hers, trailing his fingers up her arm and up to her neck. Momoka turned red as he pretended to stroke her hair.

"I have all the ingredients. But I need my last one back," he told her.

Momoka frowned. This seemed a tiny bit sketchy. "Okay. But on one condition," she told him. "I'll give you the eye, but I want something in return."

 _Please not your freedom. I don't know how to do magic or free you,_ he thought.

"A kiss. On the cheek," she said.

Fuyuki turned red. Was this like cheating on _his_ Momoka? Could he do this? Could he kiss this world's Momoka?

"F-fine..." This was also something he'd neglect to tell anyone in stories of this world. He pulled Momoka between the bars and lightly pressed his lips to her cheek. Luckily it wasn't a kiss on the lips, that would have been way worse.

Momoka smiled.

"Now on the lips," she ordered.

Fuyuki turned red. "I can't! I'm... uhhh too embarrassed," he said quite honestly.

Momoka pouted. "Fine. But after you become a god, you had better free me and make me your queen, since we've finally talked about our feelings for each other," she told him. She handed him the pouch with Kululu's eye. It felt weird in Fuyuki's hand.

Fuyuki nodded. That seemed pretty tame.

"And then you'll rip off all my clothes and make passionate love to me when I am freed! It will be glorious!" Momoka grinned.

Fuyuki turned bright red. Before he fainted, he ran. "Sorry for conning you, Momoka! I'm not him!"

He could hear Momoka's angry yells and growls as he ran as fast as he could, dodging everything she was throwing.

He never dreamed he could be on the receiving end of her anger. It was truly terrifying.

And he ran, diving into Mois's row boat, for he knew the water was safer than Momoka at the moment.

"Got it. Row away as fast as you can away," Fuyuki ordered, shivering.

Mois nodded, and the two departed her ship.

* * *

 **Angol Mois is finally here.**

 **Please review.**


	16. Poison

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Technically this is a Natsumi chapter?**

* * *

Saburo had long since sailed away, gifted an impenetrable ship for the blood he had given Other Fuyuki. And Other Fuyuki was quite pleased. The second part of his plan had to be started then, befriending Natsumi and learning to love her.

He had to make her extremely important to him. But he didn't know how to make himself love someone.

 _I suppose my first step would be to make it so that we interact more. She's a bit too close to her other friends, the female human and the two Keronians, but I can change that._

Other Fuyuki went to look for Natsumi to start forming a rift between her and her previous friends.

"Have you seen Koyuki?" she asked Other Fuyuki. "I took her here to look for Momoka, but learning that Momoka's dead... Well, I'm worried that she's not too pleased."

Fuyuki shook his head. He didn't care about the ninja girl at all. Ninja weren't something he knew much about. "I saw her friend. What was his name again... Domomo?"

"I don't remember," Natsumi moaned in annoyance. "Anyway, sorry about this, Fuyuki but I really have more important things to do, like looking for Koyuki and getting back out on the sea to kick Saburo and the stupid frog's butts."

Fuyuki frowned. That wouldn't do well. "Saburo's been officially recognized as the number one Pirate Lord. Keroro didn't want to compete with him. So I'm sorry, but you're a tiny bit slow," he informed her.

Natsumi's eyes widened. "No way! He isn't stealing this from me!" She stomped her feet, angry and annoyed.

"Keroro freed him, just like he freed you." Fuyuki narrowed his eyes. He had advised Keroro of that, after all, and as he had promised Saburo, Saburo was the ruling pirate of the sea.

"Ugh. I got to go now, then," Natsumi growled.

"But don't you want to get to know each other better? Being a pirate can wait!" Fuyuki told her.

" 'Being a pirate' is my life." She had this permanent expression of toughness. It would be hard learning to love her. Harder than Fuyuki had expected. "I have to gather Domomo and Giroro, then."

"Do you really?" Fuyuki asked. "I heard them saying some things about you. They didn't seem to like that you were a human and a pirate. Zero-whatshisname was saying how you were a bad influence on his friend and he hoped you got off this ship so he could lure you out and kill you, or something like that," Fuyuki said with a wave of his hand. Of course Keroro had told him about his two friends. The two gossiped together all night and he knew Dororo's former job as an assassin.

Natsumi looked fearful. She didn't trust Dororo very much, since she hadn't gotten to know him very long. "Well then, we'll ditch him, leave him with his old friend, and I'll get my crew and Giroro-"

"Bad idea. Giroro said you were a dirty terrible pirate," Fuyuki continued. "He said, and I quote, 'I wish I killed her when I had the chance and then I wouldn't be ashamed by being captured' and then something about warrior pride. Giroro and Dororo's characteristics were simple, from what he heard from Keroro. Giroro was a born warrior and Dororo was a sad, lonely assassin.

Natsumi took a step back. She had thought Giroro had gotten over that, his hatred of pirates. "He's just talking big. He's my consort, my companion. We've made peace! We share a bond. He came out here with me to take the other pirates down. I... I trust - " Could she really say she trusted Giroro? He had been her enemy previously. She liked him; he was fun. There was definitely alliance between them. And maybe a bit of flirtation. But did she really trust him?

Fuyuki noticed she couldn't fully say she trusted him, so he added, "He also said you were ugly."

Natsumi glared. "Oh no, he didn't!" she said. "Well then I take back what I said! That jerk! He said I was prettier than the stars, the little liar was probably just trying to butter me up!" She was clenching the railing of the ship so hard that if it was normal wood, it would have broken off. "Fine, we'll stay. I'm not letting Giroro off this boat if he really hates it that much."

Fuyuki smiled. "I'm glad. I want to be closer to my sister. After all, I trust you with all my heart," Fuyuki told her. Giving someone trust was the first step to getting them to like you. _Ha. Jokes on you. I died at sea. I no longer have what you humans call a heart._

Natsumi smiled.

* * *

Giroro was tapping his feet impatiently. He had watched Natsumi's pretty boy rival sail off as quick as he could last night. Why hadn't Natsumi left the ship to go after him?

"Where is Lady Koyuki?" Dororo remained by his side, frantic. Koyuki had been so worried for Momoka's well being and after learning she was dead had been crushed. She hadn't spoken since, and then out of nowhere, she'd vanished. Dororo was extremely worried.

"I don't know. But we need to get off this ship. I don't trust it," said Giroro. "I'm not putting Natsumi in danger for a chance to find some rich girl's bones."

"You think Keroro poses a threat?" asked Dororo.

"No. Keroro's an idiot. But no way could he get this success on his own," said Giroro. "I think he's being manipulated by either Natsumi's supposed brother or that other tadpole who was coincidentally on Momoka's ship. Either of them pose a threat." Giroro cleaned a gun. He was ready to shoot some tadpole.

Dororo frowned. "Everybody is innocent until proven guilty. We have no reason not to trust them." Dororo didn't want to suspect Fuyuki or Tamama.

There was a pounding under Giroro. Giroro stood up off of the wood and pulled up a floor board.

"I also suspect them. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu got out of his little hidey-hole in the floorboards.

Giroro made a disgusted face. "How long was I sitting on you?"

Kululu thrust his hands in Giroro's face, waiting to be untied from some ropes. "Too long. And _man_ did you smell bad. Ku ku. Take a bath. Being out on sea doesn't excuse bad hygiene!"

"That would be a waste of fresh water!" said Giroro.

"Bathe in curry, then. That's what I do," Kululu retorted. Both Giroro and Dororo took a step back, but eventually Dororo was persuaded to take off Kululu's ropes. Kululu rubbed his wrists.

"Why were you shoved away, ummm..." Dororo didn't know his name.

"Kululu, my name is Kululu. I won't care to learn yours, though." Kululu was just being a jerk. Dororo looked sad. "Well, my former best friend sailed off, as you can see, and after attacking him he boarded me up for my own safety and told me to be quiet."

"Former?" Giroro's brow rose a bit. "Doesn't sound like much of a friend if you hated him enough to attack him."

"It's because he isn't. He's a cold-hearted murderer, and not the good kind. A pirate through and through. I don't know why I was stupid enough to get involved with this sort of pirate thing. But now that I'm involved, I'm going to rise up higher than even he... and take down all those other jerk pirates... Fuyuki and Saburo," said Kululu.

Giroro and Dororo looked between each other. He had some serious grudges. "Anyway, we were talking about our distrust of this place. Do you think there's anything odd about these people? Fuyuki and Tamama?"

"Course. Well, besides the obvious that they have the Lord of Terror's ship when there's no conceivable way they could have gotten it," he pointed out, finally realizing that Fuyuki must have ordered Saburo to kill Mois so he could get the ship for himself. His expression went dark.

Giroro nodded. "Do you think it's more likely that Fuyuki's the mastermind behind this or Tamama?" He hoped it was Tamama, because Tamama had less of a connection to Natsumi.

Before Kululu could answer, Keroro passed by.

"Keroro!" Dororo stopped him. "Seen Koyuki?"

"Who?" Keroro asked.

"My comrade. The human ninja girl," he clarified.

"The one who wanted to kill me?"

Dororo nodded.

Keroro shook his head. "Nah, I spared your life because you were my friend, but she scared me. Don't know where she is."

Dororo looked shocked. Did that mean Koyuki could be dead? What had happened? He fell to his knees, his expression darkening. Tears rolled down his face. Giroro frowned.

So one of them had already likely died. Things weren't looking good for Natsumi.

* * *

Natsumi continued avoided him and Dororo and instead spent her time with Fuyuki. She ordered her ship to stay with Fuyuki and Keroro, as if enchanted by his spell. Giroro didn't trust him. What had happened to make Natsumi so angry?

Fuyuki also was a bit irritated. Natsumi was trying to learn more about him, but she wasn't acting like a sister. She didn't know how. And that didn't make him love her.

He needed her to help him, to jump-start his feelings. He needed her to protect him so he could care about her.

And what better way than purposefully putting himself in danger and picking some fights that she didn't know about?

Giroro and Kululu seemed like prime targets. Both of them had big enough egos that they'd take offense at any silly insult. Tamama could have been added to the equation too, but he knew that picking on him wouldn't be appreciated by Keroro.

"My sister was talking to me today," Fuyuki informed both of them. "She said Saburo was a better man than you two would ever be."

"She hates Saburo's guts," Giroro replied quickly, not wanting to believe it.

"I'm not a girlfriend murderer, so I doubt that's true," Kululu answered honestly. Giroro gave him a strange look.

Kululu glared at Fuyuki. He could see where this was going, though. He was trying to get his and Giroro's anger up.

"Are you trying to glare at me?" Fuyuki asked. "I can't tell. I mean, you only have one eye, buddy. How'd you lose it? Must have been real stupid. Or was it a fight?"

Kululu just glared. He hadn't yet put the pieces together that Fuyuki was the one who'd taken his eye.

"And you," Fuyuki turned to Giroro, "what made you decide to chuck everything to be a pirate? Was my sister really that pretty? I thought you had a code of honor, according to Keroro. Sis doesn't need or want you anymore. Go back to your stupid Keron. Unless you _can't_ go back, of course," he added.

Giroro hissed. Kululu put a hand on his arm to stop him. Fuyuki wouldn't win today. But Fuyuki smirked, knowing just the words to use against them.

"Whatever you gave up, just make sure you have _no regrets_ about it. I guess you could say, don't look back?"

Kululu let go of Giroro's arm, the image of Mois getting sucked back up into that crystal ball returning to his mind. "Yeah, let's kill him," he decided.

"Gotcha," Giroro grinned. And they attacked.

* * *

Of course, Natsumi quickly crossed their paths to see Kululu and Giroro trying to beat up Fuyuki. She pulled off Giroro first, looking at him angrily.

"What the heck are you doing to my brother? You know I care about him!" she growled. She pulled up Kululu by the scruff of his neck like he was a cat. He swatted at her, but she just drop-kicked him. "Fuyuki! Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

Fuyuki gave a small nod. "They just attacked me for no reason!"

"That is not true, he insulted me!" Giroro growled.

"He knows. That must be the freakin' connection," Kululu growled. So Saburo had been working for the god of those who died at sea.

Natsumi looked at both of them. "You're both horrible. Next time you touch my brother, you'll regret it."

Giroro swallowed. It was like Natsumi had forgotten all about him to protect her younger brother. At the same time, he couldn't blame her. He, too, loved his brother. He wouldn't have forgotten all about her if Garuru was in danger, but he knew Garuru might forget about whatever close friends he had for him. Older siblings were there to protect their younger ones.

"Sis..." Fuyuki moaned on the ground. Natsumi helped him up. "I... I think one of them might have had something on them that I was allergic too." He was turning green.

Natsumi looked at him worriedly. "Wh-what's wrong?" She wasn't a doctor.

"Ku, looks at your classic case of poisoning. But neither of us did it," Kululu examined. Fuyuki laughed in his thoughts. It had been risky but he had poisoned himself. He knew this would get Natsumi to save him, to protect him, to look after him. Then he was bound to love her - a risky but rewarding procedure.

"My brother is poisoned? What? How? What kind of poison?" Natsumi tried not to hyperventilate. Her brother had died on her before and she wasn't letting it happen again. She looked at Kululu. "So help me if you don't tell me, I will chuck you into a shark's mouth."

"Can't have that, I got a traitor to kill." Kululu frowned and examined Fuyuki. "Hoo-boy, it's a rare poison, lucky for us. He'll probably die. The antidote is only located in a cave on a far-off island filled with dangerous fish monsters. You'd have to dive into the waters to retrieve a rare leaf - "

"Then that's where we're going. I'm never letting my brother die on me. Not if I can help it," Natsumi vowed. "Giroro, please put aside your petty jealousy of my brother and help me."

Giroro bit his lip. He wasn't jealous; Fuyuki was just a jerk. But when Natsumi begged him like that, he couldn't refuse. "Fine. I'll help him survive."

Natsumi smiled. Maybe she could trust Giroro.

* * *

The ship immediately changed courses. Keroro, too, wanted Fuyuki to be well. Both he and Natsumi doted on Fuyuki's every need as Kululu just crossed his fingers that Fuyuki would die.

Fuyuki begged Keroro to let him spend time with his sister, knowing he needed to like Natsumi and bond with her. Keroro wanted to be there for his friend but he agreed.

Finally they approached the island.

"I'll go into the cave. It's my brother in danger and I'm the most capable." Natsumi trekked onto the beach. "Stupid frog, you better look after my brother."

"I won't let him die," Keroro vowed. He, Tamama, Dororo, and Kululu stayed by Fuyuki's side. But Natsumi and Giroro ventured to the dangerous cave.

"How dangerous is this cave?" Giroro asked.

"Very. You have to be a very skilled swimmer to retrieve the leaves as ravaging sharks fish chase you. It's deep and dark and the cave sometimes suffers from cave-ins," she explained. "If I don't make it back, I need you to tell someone so someone else can help Fuyuki."

"You really love him, don't you? Even though you've been separated so long and barely know him?" Giroro asked.

"He's my brother. I know what's in my heart. He's my family," Natsumi told him simply. "My only family."

They had reached the cave. Giroro could see the little pool that Natsumi would have to dive into. It would be a dangerous task.

"Not your only family. Your crew is like a family to you, too. Dying for your brother's sake would make them miss you. I... _I_ would miss you," he confessed. And this thing she was doing... most likely she would die. Diving in this cave, a person only had about a ten percent chance of survival.

"We're not family, Giroro," Natsumi giggled. "But thanks for saying you'd miss me."

"We could be family," he told her quietly.

"Um... I'm not sure where you're trying to go here?" Natsumi asked. "Yeah, I should go, before my courage disappears. It's tough to be strong all the time, after all."

Giroro didn't like Fuyuki. He didn't trust him at all. But that didn't mean he was about to let Natsumi risk her life for him. If Natsumi cared about the kid, well, that would be someone he cared about, too. She was the Pirate Lord that would win his heart. "Wait, Natsumi!" He stopped her before she jumped.

"What? Did I forget something? Like goggles?" Natsumi asked.

Giroro didn't know what to do, or what to say. If this was the last time he saw her... No, he couldn't let Natsumi risk her life. "Pekoponians aren't as good of swimmers as Keronians. Let me do it," he begged.

"I can't. This is my problem. _My_ brother," she said. "This has nothing to do with you. You're not going to save me again. Let me be the hero for once."

"I'm not doing this for some hero complex! I'm saying this increases the odds for your brother's survival. It wouldn't be as claustrophobic for me, and I can swim way better," he told her. "Let me prove it."

"I'm not letting you risk your life for my family. It has nothing to do with you," she almost spat.

"It doesn't," Giroro agreed, "But since it has to do with you, the woman I'm in love with, I'd rather risk my life because it's safer for me than make you do it."

Natsumi looked startled for a moment. Giroro had never referred to her as the person he loved before. Was he just speaking like that because he thought he was going to die?

"I could argue with you about this forever, you know. You're not going down there - "

"I know," Giroro grinned, "and I do love arguing with you. But not today." He jumped in before Natsumi could stop him.

She gasped, but with one of them in another couldn't follow. All she could do was feel powerless and wait to see if Giroro came up.

* * *

He did. He was a very good swimmer. And although the pointy teethed monsters were tough, they were nothing compared to the obstacle courses and military training Keron had put him through. He came out with the leaves and a chunk of fish flesh in his mouth. His teeth were pretty pointy, too.

"Got it," he smirked.

"Giroro!" Natsumi hugged him, happy that he was alive. He had done it. Before she knew what she was doing her lips were briefly on his, kissing him.

Giroro wanted to lean into the kiss, but Natsumi gagged and pulled away. "Was that fish meat?"

Giroro spit out the chunk.

"It... It was pretty dangerous down there. More monsters than I thought," he laughed nervously.

Natsumi just looked disgusted. "Well there goes our dramatic 'you almost died' kiss, thanks for ruining it," she groaned.

"Oh..." Now Giroro was disappointed. Should he have been embarrassed or ashamed?

Natsumi lightly punched him in the arm and smiled. Giroro glanced at her and saw that she was treating him with the same attitude, very chill and friendly but also commanding. Nothing had changed, even with his love confession and their kiss.

Things could still be the same between them. There was nothing to worry about.

"Thanks for doing that, Giroro." Natsumi told him. She pat the top of his wet head.

"Are you going to kiss me again?" Giroro asked trying to take up a flirtatious tone.

"Hmm... Let me think. You just bit some sort of monster fish and that's gross so NO WAY," she laughed. Giroro looked disappointed. "Maybe if you jump into some more holes for me or impress me. I don't know, maybe I'll surprise you, 'chief consort.' "

He groaned. "You aren't going to quit that?"

"Why should I? If you're in love with me, doesn't that make it even more perfect that you're my consort?" she teased.

Giroro groaned, but he smiled. He was glad she was totally fine with it, but he wished she would take it more seriously. Still it was a little hot.

More than a little.

They headed back to Fuyuki.

* * *

Natsumi quickly fed Fuyuki the leaf when she reached him. He coughed, but soon his normal color returned.

"You saved me, sis," he smiled. He had chosen that poison specifically, knowing it was very dangerous to retrieve the antidote. Only someone who truly loved him could have done it, unaware that it was Giroro who had actually saved his life.

 _My sister actually loves me. More than anything_ , Fuyuki realized. He smiled as she embraced him. He was finally starting to regret choosing her.

And even that tiny regret would make it work. That meant she was ready to be killed. Because he had tricked himself into loving her.

Once she had stopped strangling him in her loving hugs, he pried her off and went to do his own things, set up the ritual to kill her.

First he mourned. He wouldn't have time to mourn when he was taking down the gods.

"My sister... I'm sorry," he apologized. "I love you." And he repeated the words over and over again.

He was ready.

* * *

 **I wanted to squeeze Fuyuki's backstory into this chapter but I kind of explained it last chapter? He was just a mortal chosen by the gods to do a sucky job that he does not like because he doesn't have enough power and his maturity is that of a four year old since that is when he died.**

 **So that is how it is.**

 **Please review.**


	17. Win or Lose?

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **This chapter is more together-ish. I feel like I should have extended the final chapters a bit, but this one feels better than 15 and 16.**

* * *

This wasn't some video game. Losing to the final boss meant death. There was no re-start button.

That was what Fuyuki realized as his hands shook. And the final boss was himself. If he was Natsumi, yeah, he would have been able to go in there and punch his own face, but he didn't want to fight. All he wanted to do was protect the images of his friends. He didn't want anything more than that.

"We're here," Mois whispered, finally approaching Saburo's ship. "The phantom, huh..." she whispered, seeing the words. "This is where your friend and Kululu are?"

"Yeah," Fuyuki nodded. "We can be safe now. We've done enough to prevent his take over," he assured her. He took off the talisman that cloaked their little row boat and started shouting loudly.

"SABURO! Give us a rope! Help us onto your ship!" he pleaded. Saburo's head looked over the edge of the boat. His eyes buldged a little when he saw both of them.

"F-Fuyuki...?" he asked. "Which one are you?"

Fuyuki gave him a kind smile and a thumbs-up. "Your friend!"

"Get him a rope, Koyuki," he ordered. Koyuki threw a rope over the side of the vessel to pull Mois and Fuyuki aboard.

Fuyuki smiled. Finally, he'd be with his friends.

* * *

He coughed and caught his breath when he was aboard the ship. He didn't really like ships, but a big one was less sickening than a small little row boat.

"F-Fuyuki..." Mois whispered, shaking his shoulder, "that can't be Kululu's friend, right?" She looked at Saburo, concerned.

"He's Kululu's _best_ friend," said Fuyuki.

"I... I don't understand." Saburo looked so confused "Why aren't you on land where it's safe, Fuyuki? Why... Why is she here?"

"Mois?" Fuyuki looked confused. He then recalled that Saburo was terrified of her. He glanced between the two of them. The atmosphere seemed thick with distrust and dislike. He didn't know what was going on. Neither did Koyuki, and Fuyuki was pretty confused of why Koyuki was there, too.

"Who's that?" Mois asked, referring to Koyuki. She didn't want to talk to Saburo.

"My sister's friend, but I don't know why she's here," said Fuyuki.

"After I faked your death I was given my freedom and a more powerful ship. Mine's impenetrable now," Saburo bragged, "but the others weren't given their freedom. Koyuki was one of them. Neither Keroro or the other you really liked her, since she was swearing her revenge for Momoka or something and I knew she was in danger, so I took her with me when I fled," Saburo explained.

"I was pretty bitter about it. I wanted to be with Natsumi and Dororo, but maybe away from them I can plot my revenge," said Koyuki. "After all, Momoka has been wronged. I need to enact revenge before I am executed for my crimes."

Fuyuki paled. That was intense. What even _was_ Koyuki's job?

Saburo just shrugged. "I needed someone with medical expertise on my ship, now that Kululu's gone, and she was good with herbs," he answered honestly.

Mois dug her fingers into Fuyuki's arm. "Kululu's gone? What happened to him?" She looked so frightened. Had she returned to the world of the living only for her most important person to die? "You were supposed to be his best friend! I may not trust you in the least bit, but if you betrayed Kululu and got him to die I will destroy you - "

"I didn't do anything like that. He decided it was best if we split up. I asked him to flee with me on this other ship, but he refused to be anywhere near me." He looked quite sad.

Fuyuki was confused. What had happened between them?

"Oh." Mois frowned. So Kululu had been on the other ship. "Why? Did he realize who you really were?"

"Saburo? What's going on between you?" Fuyuki had never seen Mois hate someone so much. But he guessed that the Mois in this world was a bit different.

Saburo looked sad and somewhat fearful, like if he told Fuyuki, Fuyuki would leave him just like Kululu did.

"He killed me, Fuyuki. He's not a good person. I was tortured for years in the land of the dead thanks to him," said Mois. "I may have killed people, but I always made it quick. My life was eternally imprisoned by the other you and put through terrible things - "

"I'm sorry!" Saburo shouted. "I... I had no idea those things would happen. I didn't know you would come back, I didn't know you would be tortured, I didn't know anything. They say that ignorance is bliss but I'd prefer to know what I'm doing so I can deal with the consequences. Ignorance isn't bliss. It's evil." He sighed. "I know I can never make it up to you... I tried for years to protect and keep Kululu safe. But once he found out I killed you, he cut me off. Kululu was so important to me. He was my best friend, but I couldn't fight him on this. And I know my apologies mean nothing to you, probably, but you killed people, too. Can't we just shake hands and mutually agree to ignore the blood on our hands?" he asked.

"You ruined my life. Once you're eaten alive by a bird and then regenerated, you can tell me if you'd be willing to forgive. I might have forgiven you if I was alone, but if Kululu hated this so much to cut you off, I can not forgive you. If you even made him cry for a moment you are my enemy. And will be for eternity," she promised. Saburo looked hurt.

Fuyuki put up his hands between them before they started fighting. "Guys! Aren't we getting off track? Please, just have a temporary alliance. We have to decide what to do about the other me. I know what his plan is, but I still want to save my other friends - Keroro, Momoka, sis, Kululu, and Giroro."

"You forgot about someone," Koyuki pointed out, referring to Dororo.

"Oh yeah, Tamama. Thanks," Fuyuki smiled.

Koyuki frowned again. "Momoka's dead, Fuyuki. And... uhh, could someone clue me into why there's two of him? I'm super confused."

Nobody explained it to her. She was simply not an important enough character to be included in battle plans.

"Yeah, Fuyuki's right. We have to save the rest of them. I don't care much about Natsumi, actually I'd prefer her and Keroro dead since they're rival pirates, but I don't want that other Fuyuki on the sea. And I want to save Kululu," Saburo agreed, "Fuyuki, what's his plot?"

"To get stronger than the gods. He's got this spell we have to stop, which involves my blood, the heart of someone he loves, an eye..." Fuyuki held up the pouch with Kululu's eye. "And her soul." He pointed to Mois.

Saburo took a deep breath. "We can't let him get that strong. He probably thinks he's got all of the ingredients except the heart. So, Fuyuki... You know him best, since, well, he's you. Who do you think he's going to strike?"

"The Sarge - uh, Keroro, I mean - my sister, or Momoka. If I had to choose among them..." Fuyuki pondered. Which one would he kill if he had to? He loved all of them too much. He didn't want any of them to die. This was hard! "He'd choose sis. He knows her the least," he finally decided.

If it came down to it for _him_ , he might've had to choose Keroro.

"Momoka is _dead_!" Koyuki shouted, still out of the loop.

"She isn't. There's illusion magic on her. She's being kept prisoner," Fuyuki explained. Koyuki brightened up.

"Well then... I suppose we have to attack that other guy and save her," she agreed.

Fuyuki nodded. That just meant they had to plan when to strike.

* * *

Giroro still didn't like Fuyuki. He was still highly suspicious of him. But nobody else seemed suspicious of him, besides Kululu, and he disliked Kululu almost as much as Fuyuki, but not quite as much. At least he knew mostly where his motives lay and Kululu wasn't much of a threat to Natsumi.

His allies - Dororo, Keroro, and Natsumi - had been taken in by Fuyuki. Natsumi was always with her brother. Keroro was either with Fuyuki or Tamama, and Dororo had thrown himself into becoming a pirate. He was now extremely hardcore and enjoying the pirate life after becoming broken from the death of Koyuki.

"I don't trust Fuyuki. Who the hell poisoned him? It wasn't either of us," Giroro pointed out to Kululu one day. Kululu was watching Dororo like a hawk. That guy had changed almost overnight from his grief.

"Oh, it was clearly himself. He did it to play the sympathy card," Kululu said simply. "There isn't even a question to me that he's evil. He hired Saburo to kill the other version of himself."

"WHAT!" Giroro was so confused. That was right, there had been two Fuyukis at one point! He had completely forgotten and so had Natsumi.

"He's a killer. He's got something planned. I just don't know _what_ yet," said Kululu. "I'm currently looking into it."

"So... we need an underground revolution to find out his plan, to figure out what he's planning," Giroro realized. He didn't want Kululu as his only ally. "Dororo! Keroro!" They were his childhood friends. He trusted them. "Kululu and I both suspect Fuyuki of mutiny. Care to go undercover with us?"

Dororo shook his head. "He's the first mate. I can't go against him," he said.

"He might have been the one to cause Koyuki's death." Kululu pointed out. Dororo's eyes watered.

"I don't even know what happened to that ninja lady," said Keroro. "But Fuyuki's way innocent. He's my best friend! No way would I betray him."

Kululu looked between them. Keroro wasn't very helpful, but Dororo... Dororo was. As a ninja, he was probably very skilled in gathering information. It was important to get him on his side. Kululu sat down next to Dororo, knowing that manipulation wouldn't work in this case. Dororo seemed like the pathetic sort who got along better with people. Kululu had to pretend to be his friend. Like... related to him or something. Just thinking the word disgusted Kululu to no end.

"So your girlfriend's dead, huh?" Kululu asked.

"She wasn't my girlfriend. She was my soulmate," Dororo corrected. "But yes. She just disappeared, and Keroro swears he didn't order her death, even though she threatened to kill him. I don't know weather to believe him. It was either him or Fuyuki. But going for revenge wouldn't solve anything. I must honor Koyuki's sacrifice; after all, she was trying to kill them, too."

"You know, it's tough when you realize your friends have killed someone you dearly love. But think about what your lover would want. Would they want you to honor their sacrifice? Or fight?" Kululu asked.

"She'd want me to be happy." Dororo answered honestly. Kululu frowned. He knew Mois would want the same for him, but this wasn't working.

"I don't think she would. She'd want you to take down her killer, to figure out who did it," Kululu told him.

"How would you know?" Dororo asked.

"I was in a similar situation, long ago. My girlfriend died too - at the hands of my best friend," Kululu admitted.

"You had a girlfriend? Was she real?" Giroro asked. Kululu glared at him.

Dororo looked at Kululu. Kululu was trying to relate to him. And he appreciated the gesture. He gave him a hug.

"I'll do it. I'll figure out Fuyuki's motives and what he's up to. He's probably innocent, but I want to know for sure. I'll help you," he promised.

Kululu brushed himself off when Dororo was done hugging him. Dororo's contact was gross. "Good," he smiled.

He had the ally he needed.

* * *

It didn't take very long for Dororo to gather information on Fuyuki. Dororo was a trained assassin and Fuyuki might have been a lesser god with supernatural powers, but it was no match for Dororo's wisdom and experience. When he came back to Giroro and Kululu, he was more than shocked at the list he had found. Fuyuki had written down what he was doing as a reminder and because he was proud of the writing skills he had learned from Momoka.

"You were right. He is evil. He's trying to cast a spell to make himself all-powerful," Dororo explained.

Giroro was shocked as he grabbed the parchment. "He's got things checked off... His ingredients for the spell."

"Ku, ku, ku. Killing himself is checked off. Geez is he in for a surprise," he said. He had beaten him at least on one level, even if it was Saburo's victory.

"Killed Mois, whoever that is, is also checked off," Giroro observed. Kululu frowned. So Fuyuki really had been responsible. "Gotten some loser's eyeball..."

"I am not a loser!" Kululu frowned. He knew the eyeball Fuyuki was talking about. He crossed his arms bitterly. Giroro frowned.

"And for the last step, the one that's not checked off..." His face paled. Just as his instinct had told him, Fuyuki was a danger to Natsumi. "Kill Natsumi."

No way was he letting that happen. No more lying in wait. He was going to confront him now. "I will not let him hurt her," he vowed.

He wouldn't turn out like Dororo and Kululu. Fuyuki would not hurt the one he loved.

* * *

Keroro had never really agreed to help out Giroro and Dororo. And although they were his childhood friends, his real friendship lied with Fuyuki.

He had become a Pirate Lord with him. They had found each other on sea and Fuyuki had gifted him a glorious ship. They had laughed, had fun, and gone through a lot, like innocent children. Fuyuki was his best friend. And he would do anything for him. Including betray his former friends.

After all, trust to a first mate had to go two ways.

"Fuyuki." Keroro addressed his friend. "Giroro and Kululu think you're evil for some reason, let me tell you what they're plotting."

Fuyuki was drinking, but he got more and more angry as Keroro spoke. Giroro's paranoia had shown him that Fuyuki was a danger to Natsumi and because of that, he had seen through his plan.

"I suppose I can start my plan early. No reason to wait," Fuyuki decided. It was time to punish some insolent fools - with _death_. After all, for some reason he wasn't getting any new minions. A lot of people were dying on land instead.

He'd destroy Giroro, Kululu, and Dororo.

* * *

Fuyuki came up to the deck with his cloak trailing behind him. Dororo, Giroro and Kululu were plotting, but not plotting enough.

"There's a mutiny happening aboard and no way will I let this happen. Giroro, as the person who started up these rumors about me, I hereby order you to die." Fuyuki hissed.

Giroro stood up and got his guns ready. "No way!"

Natsumi had been watching Tamama sail the ship. Seeing the commotion, she jumped down to the deck. "What the heck is going on?" She glared at Giroro. "We saved Fuyuki, why attack him?"

"He's trying to kill me," said Giroro. "I'm just defending myself!"

Natsumi glanced at Fuyuki. His hand was glowing as if by magic. It was icy and cold. She didn't seem to notice how weird her brother was.

"Fuyuki." She growled like she could control him by just scolding him. Fuyuki rolled his eyes, annoyed. He didn't need this. This would just make him dislike her.

"You know the life of a pirate, Natsumi. Plotting against the captain or the first mate is something that deserves death. You follow the rules of piracy too," said Fuyuki. "Do you not respect your own code of ethics? For what, him?" He gestured his head at Giroro.

Natsumi frowned. Fuyuki charged at Giroro, but Natsumi stepped between them.

"Don't," she ordered. "Let him go free, just this once. I can't lose him. I've lost too many important people in my life - Mom, Dad, Yayoi, Satsuki, you, and now even my best friend Koyuki is missing!" She wanted to be strong, stopping this quarrel. She had stopped plenty of quarrels on her ship, but instead, she started crying. She loved everyone so much. Her friends, her family, and Giroro. Why couldn't she be strong _and_ emotionless? But thinking about Koyuki's death and her old crew just brought back old memories. "I can't lose him too. I love Giroro. Please Fuyuki, for me. Spare him," she begged.

Fuyuki's jaw opened a bit, but then he smiled. "You've always been tough, strong, unapproachable. But your tears now symbolize your true emotions, sis." He smiled the most loving smile he had ever given. Tears fell down his cheeks as well. "Seeing the real you, I can truly say I love you. So I won't kill him. For you, I won't. Because I can say in my heart I honestly love you, too."

Giroro looked confused. If Fuyuki loved Natsumi, did that mean Natsumi was safe? Fuyuki didn't sound like he was lying.

He approached Natsumi, the two siblings crying quietly. Kululu muttered bitterly at the annoying display of affection, but it was only Keroro who saw things truly from his angle.

He saw the knife concealed in Fuyuki's sleeve, approaching the other Pirate Lord to stab her.

"Fuyuki! What are you doing? She's your sister!" Keroro screamed. He hadn't ever believed the rumors of Fuyuki's evilness.

Giroro's confusion abruptly ended as he pulled out his gun and pointed it at Fuyuki. Fuyuki had his knife raised to Natsumi, who looked shocked.

"Do it and I pull the trigger. You'll die." Giroro hissed, threatening Fuyuki.

"Wh-what's going on? Fukki's super nice..." Tamama looked the most confused, having never even _heard_ any rumors about Fuyuki.

"He's evil. He probably killed your friend, too - the Nishizawa heiress," Dororo explained.

Tamama gasped. "Momocchi! No... No way, she died of sickness..." Tamama looked terrified. Keroro looked at Tamama as if he wanted to comfort him, but he thought on pure instinct instead.

He didn't care about Natsumi. Not a bit. But he did care about Fuyuki. As everybody froze while Natsumi was held at knife and Giroro pointed a gun at Fuyuki, Keroro moved. He moved in front of Fuyuki to protect him with his body.

"Shoot and I die, Giroro. Not Fuyuki. I know you care about me at least a little, I hope. We're friends, after all. But Fuyuki is my best friend and I won't let you kill him," he warned.

Giroro bit his lip. He loved Natsumi, he really did. But he hadn't truly ran away from all of his past on Keron. He still cared about parts of his family and his friends. And Keroro was part of that past; he didn't want to kill him.

He wasn't as strong as he knew he should have been. He was conflicted.

So they just stood there at a draw. Fuyuki didn't want Keroro dying either. And Natsumi drew her breath, completely confused, instead of running away.

* * *

"There's the ship. I see the fog," said Saburo.

"So... we're just going to ram into it?" Fuyuki asked.

"I can freeze it" said Mois, "It won't be able to get away. We'll be able to do some damage and jostle it quite a bit." She glared at Saburo. They'd have to co-operate to do this. "Go," she told him.

And Saburo ordered his ship to sail forward.

* * *

Abruptly, the frozen draw stopped. Everything shook as Saburo's ship fully rammed into theirs. Fuyuki held onto his dagger, not about to let it go, but he dropped to his knees.

Keroro rolled to one side of the boat away from Fuyuki and Natsumi, not being a meat shield any longer.

Fuyuki smiled, trying to get up. Dororo was holding onto Tamama as they both grabbed onto a rope. Giroro was on his belly with his gun in his hand as Kululu grabbed his arm.

"You're never going to get a chance like this. Shoot him! Shoot that monster!" Kululu ordered.

"No!" Giroro shook his head. "With the boat shaking so much, I don't know who I'll hit, Natsumi or Fuyuki. I'm not going to risk Natsumi's life like that."

"Tch." Kululu wasn't going to waste his chance for revenge as the boat shook as the phantom rammed it again. He had too much anger in him at both Fuyuki and Saburo. As Giroro tried to find balance, Kululu grabbed Giroro's hands and pressed on them enough for him to pull the trigger.

It was Giroro's fingers that technically hit the trigger button, even if Kululu's hands were on top of his. It looked like a clean shot toward Fuyuki. And it did hit him, but instead of stopping, it went clean through his head -

\- and straight to Natsumi's neck. Natsumi's death was a quick one as she fell to the ground with her eyes wide her throat gurgling with blood.

Giroro's eyes widened with shock.

"I'm dead anyway. I died long ago," Fuyuki told him, tapping on his ear to try to stop the hole. "A bullet won't kill me. I just didn't want you to hurt Keroro. But I guess you did anyway."

Giroro felt like his voice was lost as his love lay on the cold ground. The ship rocked again, further mangling her body.

Surprisingly, it was Fuyuki who started crying. "I... I truly did love her. I would have missed her." He put his arms around his sister's dead body, but then started chuckling despite himself. "Kind of funny, huh? I was the one who needed to kill her, but you did it. Her death is useless to me now. I didn't want it to happen like this." He cried and laughed as his hands were coated in his sister's blood. He didn't know what he wanted anymore, but he knew someone he loved dying was powerful. It sparked all sorts of odd emotions in him he hadn't felt before - grief, for one. Regret.

Giroro just stared blankly as Fuyuki held Natsumi's body. He dropped his gun and collapsed to the ground.

Everything was meaningless now. He had tried so hard to be a good person, she had lived because of him saving her, but he had been the one to kill her, too. Their lives had been intertwined by fate, but it wasn't the positive sort.

He had ruined her. And his Pirate Lord warrior woman was now dead.

* * *

Fuyuki grabbed a small sword, ready to fight against his other self. Grabbing a rope, he was ready to board the other ship.

"So plan is, save Kululu and your other friends and kick that Fuyuki's butt?" Saburo asked, trying to remember the plan.

"Yep," Fuyuki answered, swinging over to the ship. His feet didn't quite find the ground and he slipped on Natsumi's blood. He looked in horror as he saw the body of this world's Natsumi held by his other self as he cry-laughed.

"NOOO! NOOO!" Fuyuki screamed. He was too late. She was already dead. He dropped to the ground, his sword clattering on the ground. He had tried to be a hero, but he had lost.

The other Fuyuki looked up from crying over his sister. "So you're still alive? I can fix that," he grinned.

Fuyuki didn't have any fight left in him.

* * *

 **When Fuyuki said "I can fix that" it just reminded me so much of that guy from holes [editor's note: Sam, I think] that was Kiss and Kate's boyfriend. [editor's note: It was actually "Kissin' Kate"]  
**

 **Also I think this may be the first story that Koyuki had more lines and plot stuff than Tamama. Wow.**

 **Please review.**


	18. End

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Last chapter.**

 **I'm sorry for not giving Natsumi enough stuff to do. All in all the plot for this story honestly always revolved around Saburo and Fuyuki before I put Natsumi in as a main character. I tried to give Natsumi and Giroro stuff but it didn't feel too satisfying. I apologize.**

 **Also, I'm sorry for making Saburo a tiny bit gay in this chapter. Okay, more than a tiny bit. It just kind of happened.**

* * *

He would never be the sick boy who died at sea again. Illness, weakness... It would never be him again.

Fuyuki recalled the day when his life had changed. As if searching for a butterfly from his deliriousness he had reached over the rail of the ship. It had broken apart and he had fallen into the icy waters below. The average three minutes that one could hold their breath wasn't what Fuyuki experienced. Instead, he choked in thirty seconds, turning blue and being crushed from the water repeatedly.

" _The boy is dead."_ He had heard the voices of the gods. _"And so young, too. If we raised him, his spirit, he could be useful to us. I happen to need an assistant,"_ The ruler of the dead had spoken as Fuyuki's spirit raised from his body.

And he had been given a job at four. But no companionship had greeted him; instead he had been used as a scapegoat for a pathetic job nobody wanted. He was unable to leave the sea.

And he wanted it over. Fuyuki would gain the power to be stronger than the gods, and then he'd take them down. He'd finally be able to put his foot on land again. That was all he wanted.

"Don't do this!" Fuyuki begged his other self, trying to catch his breath as he saw the dead body of his sister. "You don't have to kill so many people. You don't need to be all powerful. Just be happy with what you have. _I_ am, and we're the same."

"I'm never going to be happy with the circumstances that this sad, pathetic life have thrust upon me," Other Fuyuki declared. "The oceans won't be my domain any longer. I'll be more powerful than anyone. I'll get to be on the land that I once loved so much. I care nothing for pirates and the ocean. I'm sick of all this water!"

Fuyuki frowned at him. "I won't let you kill me. You may have killed my sister - "

"I didn't kill her. He did." Other Fuyuki pointed at Giroro. Giroro was still frozen in shock. "I suppose after seeing one of my most important people die, it'll be easier to kill another one. After all, I know how it feels now. Pity, I really needed Natsumi dead." Other Fuyuki shrugged. "But she died at sea, so..." He twitched his fingers and Natsumi raised again like a puppet.

"N-Natsumi!" Giroro looked at her, pleased. But her eyes were cold.

"I need more allies to fight against you. And her soul is mine now. I suppose whoever I kill will be with me in death," Other Fuyuki grinned, "My dear sister, kill them for me, won't you?"

"Yes, brother," Natsumi agreed like a doll. Her soul wasn't there with her, it was just her body. She was Other Fuyuki's minion.

Fuyuki watched in horror as she charged at Giroro who was already distressed enough at what he had done to Natsumi. He didn't have the strength to fight.

The other Fuyuki laughed. Natsumi was strong. The only thing weak about her previously was that she was human, but now she was his undead soldier.

"Hyah!" Dororo, the only one with no attachment whatsoever to Natsumi, swung in from a rope and kicked her in the face before she could attacked the three Keronians - Dororo, Kululu and Giroro. Saburo entered as well.

"Saburo!" Fuyuki smiled and ran up to him hugging him around the waist. He had seen too much, but now Saburo was here to make it better, just like he always did.

"So you faked his death. I should have suspected as much," Other Fuyuki frowned, for some reason figuring out now and not earlier when Fuyuki had actually climbed onto the ship. His head wasn't really in the game today. "You two are allies."

Saburo frowned and looked at the other Fuyuki. "I can't take him down for you, Fuyuki. He's too tough for even me. I don't stand a chance. All my powers have been granted to me by him."

Fuyuki frowned. So Saburo wasn't going to save him?

"But I can take Natsumi down. She's pretty tough and we're evenly matched," he said with a sigh. "It was my greed that started all this, gave him his first ingredient... and his second. I ruined so much by being conned by him, and I'm so sorry. I've regretted it and wanted to make it up for years, but I guess now I finally have the chance. I won't let him have your sister's heart," Saburo promised.

"Saburo? What are you going to do?" Fuyuki asked, confused. Saburo turned to Kululu, cowering on the ground from Natsumi's attacks.

"I am honestly sorry for what I did to you, Kululu. I really did value you as my best friend and I'm going to miss you," Saburo told him. "And Fuyuki?"

"Yeah?"

"You're pretty cute." Saburo grinned and patted his head. "Well, this version of you, at least. I hate _my_ world's version of you."

Fuyuki looked at Saburo in confusion. What did Saburo have planned? But suddenly Saburo moved as Natsumi got up. He charged at her, hitting her off the boat with him. He stabbed repeatedly with his dagger as Natsumi tore at him, and the two fell to the icy waters below.

"N-Natsumi!" Giroro screamed. She was dead again. That was twice in one day! The water rippled, but the two of them were gone. Saburo had taken down Fuyuki's minion.

"SABURO!" Fuyuki screamed. Kululu just looked in horror, waiting for his best friend to resurface. He never did.

Saburo was gone.

The other Fuyuki watched. His soldier might have been gone, but Kululu, Fuyuki, and Giroro were pretty much out of commission from horror of Saburo's heroic sacrifice. He cared nothing for Dororo and didn't see him as a threat, so he moved on to gather his heart. He had the choice between Keroro and Momoka, and no way was he going to hurt Momoka. He had made a promise.

"Did Saburo just plummet to his death?" Mois asked, swinging over to her ship with Koyuki. The other Fuyuki hissed as he saw her.

"How many of my ingredients did you steal from me?" he demanded from his other self.

"All of them. And you deserve it," he said.

Dororo looked up in shock at Koyuki. "You're alive?"

"Yeah. Saburo just took me to his ship. And I'm here to save Momoka. I will find her," Koyuki vowed. Seeing that there was a battle going on and knowing she had nothing to do with it, she grabbed Dororo to leave with him and search the ship.

Other Fuyuki didn't care. He had Angol Mois and his other self to deal with. Mois wasn't even paying attention to her tormentor. As Giroro wailed loudly about a dead Natsumi, she just looked at Kululu.

"No... No way, how are you alive? This can't be true..." Kululu was totally confused.

"I'm here. I came for you," she smiled. "Fuyuki saved me, and now we can be together..."

Other Fuyuki just stabbed her in the back as she talked lovingly to Kululu. "I think not. Back to death you go."

Kululu screamed. "WHAT? I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO HAVE ONE CONVERSATION WITH HER!"

Fuyuki winced. A lot of his friends were dying. "Technically she was already dead? Mois, come on. I mean yeah you just got a knife to the back but remember what I said about willpower? Your life is yours! He can't control you!"

Mois moaned on the ground and got up. "Yes. My soul is mine now, and although my body is damaged, Fuyuki can't take me. This ship is mine." She tried to control her ship, let her minions grab Other Fuyuki to stop him, but Other Fuyuki just shook his head. It was like a tug of war for the ship's control as shadow-like minions went to either attack Mois or Other Fuyuki, never completing their commands.

"You're mine," Other Fuyuki told her. "Your soul is mine. There's no such thing as having enough _willpower_ to free your own soul from death. That's just dumb. Did you think you could play pretend and be alive again?"

The words made Mois's face pale, as if reality was hitting her instead of fantasy. She knew full well she was technically dead.

"Mois... don't go. Don't die again. I have so much to talk to you about, don't leave me, not like Saburo did," Kululu begged. But it was too late.

"I already left. I can't die again, Kululu. I'm already dead." She gave a sad smile. And Fuyuki commanded her to come to his side.

 _So Saburo's sacrifice meant nothing because now he just has another soldier,_ Fuyuki realized. Her eyes were becoming duller and duller ready to do Fuyuki's every command.

"I assume you stole his eye back too?" Other Fuyuki asked. He saw Mois wearing the pouch around her neck and gently grasped her neck. "With her soul back to me and his eye and you here, that means I only need the heart. Just need to find a back up person that I love." He sighed, annoyed.

Keroro it was. He loved him, but he needed power. "Sorry, Keroro. Are you a good enough friend to die for me?"

Keroro squeaked. "Wait, you want to kill me? Why?"

"I need the power. It's the only way I can become stronger than the gods, with the heart of someone I dearly love. That's you. But I didn't befriend you to kill you like I did with Natsumi. I really care about you," he smiled sadly. "I'm sorry this has to happen."

Keroro started sweating, afraid of Fuyuki for once. He swallowed.

"Sarge! Over here," Fuyuki begged. "Don't go to him. We can fight against him together." He looked around. An all-powerful lesser god Fuyuki and Mois, and all he had was probably Tamama to help him, maybe Kululu, and not likely Giroro. Giroro was still crying very hard. The odds weren't in his favor. But he needed to have a strong willpower.

Keroro looked between the two Fuyukis. "Fuyuki is my friend," he said honestly.

"Mr. Captain..." Tamama frowned. "You can't be considering it, right?"

"Dying by his side... is something I'm willing to do. If he really wants this, I mean. Fuyuki is my best friend." And Keroro walked toward the evil Fuyuki.

Tamama glared at Fuyuki. He was not killing _both_ Momoka and Keroro on his watch.

"Thank you, Keroro. I knew I could trust you," Other Fuyuki smiled, reading his knife for the kill and to carve out his heart. Keroro closed his eyes, rather nervous for death.

* * *

Koyuki and Dororo were probably the most capable in a fight at the moment. But neither of them were fighting against Fuyuki. Instead they were trying to find Momoka.

"Koyuki?" Momoka looked confused when she saw the ninja girl. They were well acquainted.

"So you _were_ alive." Koyuki breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm going to free you, no matter what."

"But Fuyuki... I think he's worried about me leaving. I don't want to upset him," Momoka confessed.

"Fuyuki is trying to kill loads of people. He's trying to become more powerful than the gods. He attempted to kill his sister, and he might go after you next," Dororo explained. Momoka's heart sank. She didn't want Fuyuki losing his humanity just for a spell.

This was all her fault. She knew Fuyuki had promised to not kill her, but she was afraid he would for the sake of his dream. She had to talk to him.

She had to save Fuyuki from himself.

"I'll try to crack the bars from my side. You try yours," Momoka ordered. Koyuki and Dororo both nodded and they pulled as hard as they could.

* * *

Eventually Momoka was freed. And the three of them ran up to the deck as fast as they could.

"Fuyuki!" Momoka yelled. Both of the Fuyukis glanced at her.

"Momocchi? You're alive?" Tamama looked shocked. Momoka smiled at him softly. Maybe Tamama would say something sweet and kind... "Never mind that, Momocchi! Help save my boyfriend! Mr. Captain's going to be killed!"

Momoka frowned. She didn't care. But she knew she didn't want Tamama sad. "Fuyuki. I know you want this power, but killing people you love isn't the way to get it. You'll lose your humanity in the process, the kindness I love so much about you. Don't do it. Please. For me."

Fuyuki looked at her for a moment like it was a fairy tale. Momoka knew he'd listen to her. "I'm sorry, Momoka. It's my goal. I can't sacrifice it for you. And Keroro's agreed. It's consensual killing." He glanced at Mois. "Summon some chains for her. I don't want her getting caught in any crossfire."

Mois nodded, technically still having control of the ship. Chains were summoned on a post and, like snakes, they latched onto Momoka's body, pulling her toward the post. Momoka screamed.

Koyuki and Dororo got out their blades. It was time to fight for what was right.

* * *

Koyuki and Dororo were both strong, but Mois's crew was also strong and undead. They fought several enemies and Fuyuki realized it was all up to him to stop his evil self. Pure strength couldn't win this fight.

But heart could.

"Me!" Fuyuki used his battle cry as he watched his friends fight amongst each other. Dororo, Koyuki, and Tamama all tried to get to Fuyuki, but were blocked by the undead crew. Kululu tried to free Mois. And Giroro was still pathetically sobbing, being the most useless. It was all up to Fuyuki.

So he punched the other Fuyuki in the face. It was a weak punch and it made his body hazy, because he knew there was something weird about the two of them touching, the universe didn't like it or something, but he punched him anyway.

"Ow!" the other Fuyuki groaned. Despite his god-like powers he was still as physically weak and pathetic as the other Fuyuki. He tried to avoid Fuyuki's weak slaps but every time it hurt both of them with the glitching and also hurt normally because both of them were pathetic.

It was the most pathetic slap-fight in history. They would back away from each other because their hands would be glitching out.

 _This isn't working. Touching him is weakening me._ Every time they touched, he saw Other Fuyuki's memories, sad ones of loneliness, of death, torturous ones. It hurt. _Wait, if I can see his memories, maybe he can see mine?_ Fuyuki wondered. If he could show Fuyuki why he shouldn't harm his friends, then maybe he could talk some sense into him. He imagined all his best memories of Natsumi - them as kids, playing in the store, stealing cookies together, all sorts. And he head-butted the other Fuyuki, touching their foreheads together.

"AHHH!" the other Fuyuki screamed as the memories flashed before him of a loving life, the strong sister he had that was now dead. He missed her. He really loved her.

And that sub-conscious love was messing with his head and his powers. He slowly gave her her soul back and her life.

Giroro, who was still crying and looking at the water, noticed it first. Two hands shot up out of the water as Natsumi and Saburo clung back onto the ship. Natsumi's eyes were her normal color and she cracked her knuckles.

"Well. My brother's a brat. Time to give him a spanking," were her first words after death.

"Damn. I resurrected them." Fuyuki tried to control Natsumi, but his love for her was preventing him from making her into his demonic puppet. He held no such love for Saburo, though, so Saburo silently ran up to his side to fight for him.

"Natsumi! I'm so sorry! I killed you!" Giroro moaned. Natsumi started gagging on the bullet in her throat. Giroro chucked a Kululu at her. "Do that surgery thing you do. Make her well," he ordered.

"Geez louise, ku, ku, ku." Kululu shook his head. He didn't care about Natsumi and Giroro's pathetic lives but he took the bullet out of her throat and patched it up quickly. Natsumi smiled.

"Now can I beat up my brother?" she asked. Giroro nodded, but before letting her go off and fight, he pulled her down to kiss her.

"I can forgive taking me as your prisoner and making me your consort, but dying is something a pirate should never do. You're stronger than that. Stay safe," he begged.

"I trust that you'll be looking after my back," Natsumi grinned, grabbing a gun from Giroro's belt. "Want to fight together?"

"Always," he smiled. He was ready for the fight. And they charged toward her brother.

* * *

Fuyuki didn't see himself as a bad person as he dizzily wandered around from the head-butt. All he had wanted to do was kill Keroro who was still kind of standing and cowering amidst the battle. He let his soldiers, Mois and Saburo, handle things as he recovered. The other Fuyuki was in just as bad shape as him.

"What do you want us to do?" Saburo asked.

"Kill them. Kill them all," Fuyuki ordered. "And uhh, I suppose I could use another eye. Kululu originally have two of them, right? Oh well, take another." He could always use a spare.

Saburo nodded and went forward to fight.

"Do you want to take down your rival?" Giroro asked Natsumi, seeing Saburo with a sword ready.

"On any other day? Yes. But today I've got bigger fish to fry. You think you could take him?" Natsumi asked. Giroro smiled. He had never had a chance to go toe-to-toe with this Pirate Lord, even if it was an undead version of him.

"I would love to. You go take Fuyuki down... Uhh, I can't tell the difference between them," Giroro frowned. There were two of them.

"I'll punch both," said Natsumi. She wasn't on good terms with either of them at the moment, but she also didn't want to kill them. She still loved her brother... Brothers? She wasn't sure anymore. Giroro nodded at her as she ran off.

And his and Saburo's knifes clashed.

"I won't let you go after Natsumi. Your fight is here," Giroro growled. "I may not be a pirate, but I suppose I am stolen loot. After all, a pirate did steal my heart."

"I may be dead, but that was hella corny," Undead Saburo spoke. Giroro hissed. He already didn't like that guy.

"OWNED!" Kululu shouted from across the ship. Saburo laughed, but then went back to fighting.

And it was Giroro vs Saburo in an intense battle that really meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.

* * *

Natsumi's battle was slightly more intense with Fuyuki. Fuyuki was dizzy and weak against himself from the slap fight, but he still had very intense magic. He tried to freeze her and dodge, to control her since she had been dead moments ago, but the other Fuyuki tried to help her by shouting about good memories to make Fuyuki's values conflicted.

"And then Keroro gave me a pork roll and we laughed together!" he was saying.

"I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill them all!" raged the other Fuyuki as Natsumi tried to grab him and pound him. "You won't hurt me. I will become more powerful than a god, just you wait," he hissed.

"Sure you will. I can't let you kill anyone," said Natsumi. But every hit didn't hurt him as much as Fuyuki's hits did. This Fuyuki was already dead. There was nothing she could do hurt him.

* * *

Mois chased after Kululu, ready to pluck out another eyeball.

"Look, I love that you came back to life and I can seen you again, but maybe we shouldn't have a reunion like this? I would really like to have at least one eye." Kululu tried to scoot away from her, or climb up a tiny pole to avoid her. "I like seeing you too."

"I'm sorry," she apologized. She wanted to disobey Fuyuki's orders, but every part of her was screaming to follow them. She was still dead; that was what he had told her. She eventually hit down the pole and Kululu fell into her arms. Kululu winced as she pried off his glasses and put her fingers on the outer parts of his open eye.

"Mois, don't do this. Please," he pleaded desperately. She had never ever hurt him before. And he didn't want this to happen. "I-I'm scared," he admitted.

That seemed to snap her out of it. Her hand froze for a moment.

"You can be alive if you want. You can fight him. You're in this world now, not his. I'm not going to look back again, wonder what could have been. Instead I'm going to look forward at you, in the present," he told her lovingly. "But I can't if I have no eyeballs," he said less lovingly.

Mois started shaking. "I make the dead. I don't want to be among them. I don't want to be controlled." She seemed to break free of the mental shackles Fuyuki had placed on her and listen to the good Fuyuki, who had proven to her it _had_ all been willpower. She took her hand off of Kululu's face. "I'm not going to follow his orders. I'm alive. I'm not going to leave again."

Kululu smiled. He knew he had faith in her. He knew the good Fuyuki had probably given her a dumb willpower speech while they were traveling together that had miraculously worked. "I'm glad. I never want you to leave again. I love you." He kissed her gently on her lips. She smiled.

They didn't even care about the battle around them.

* * *

Fuyuki watched as his sister pummeled his other evil self. But the damage didn't seem to be working.

 _He's not going to give up,_ Fuyuki realized. The other Fuyuki might have wanted him dead, but he had also been the only weapon against him that had been able to do any damage. He had been able to change Other Fuyuki's feelings so much toward Natsumi that he was now shaking whenever he tried to attack her.

They were one and the same. And he remembered the memories of loneliness that he had seen. He knew what he had to do. He needed to give the other Fuyuki more memories, enough memories so that he couldn't hurt anyone.

"I'm going in!" Fuyuki yelled, pushing Natsumi aside. Natsumi looked surprised but impressed by Fuyuki's courage. Instead of a battle cry, however, Fuyuki just hugged his other self.

Both of them screamed as if their skin was burning. They were never meant to hug, being from two different dimension and being the same person. As if the other Fuyuki's skin was melting, there was a glowing hue around each of them. Natsumi shielded her eyes but it was too late.

The two Fuyuki's had become one Fuyuki. And their minds had converged into one.

"F-Fuyuki...?" Saburo stopped fighting Giroro, the good Fuyuki freeing him from his control and giving him back his life. "Fuyuki? Are you okay?"

The Super Fuyuki smiled. "Yes... my memories are converging into one... It hurts." His mind was going a mile a minute. A rush of memories of his evil self's life, his feelings, were being stripped away as he tried to pour all sorts of good memories and feelings into him.

"You're trying to make him care, to install something good in him so he can't kill your friends," Saburo realized. He frowned. If Fuyuki ever became good like that, he'd have a lot to work through, like looking back on all the terrible things he had done. He, too, had to work through the mistakes he had made with Angol Mois.

"Aughhh..." Super Fuyuki screamed as their memories continued to combine.

"You idiot! How will you get out of there? How will you two separate?" Giroro asked.

"Don't you care about going home?" Kululu asked.

Fuyuki couldn't even say "oh crap" he hadn't thought of that.

* * *

It felt like hours before Fuyuki could open his eyes. Everything felt hazy, like he was on a cloud. He couldn't move, being two people in one body. But he could see the other Fuyuki's memories. Deep down, he was just a spoiled child, just like he had been so long ago. He knew Fuyuki was just lonely and was confident if he somehow separated, Fuyuki would just start crying like a child.

But he didn't need to separate.

"How do we get my brother - my brothers," Natsumi corrected, "out of each other?" He could hear his sister's voice.

He was losing more of his individuality as time went off. They were becoming more and more like one.

"I don't know if we can. And maybe we shouldn't. After all, we don't know what the other Fuyuki will do," Giroro reminded her.

"I promised I'd get him home. We have to save him," Saburo begged.

"Two Fuyukis for the price of one!" Momoka clapped. "But... I want _my_ Fuyuki."

"So... does he still want to kill me?" asked Keroro.

"Um..." Kululu cleared his throat. "Anyone forget that I'm a surgeon? I've dealt with people combining into one _loads_ of times. Ku, ku, ku. Course, it was always my fault that they combined into one, but I can separate them too." He twirled around some tools. "It'll be a jiffy, but I'll save the good Fuyuki. Just kick the bad one's butt."

Natsumi nodded, promising.

* * *

Fuyuki finally opened his eyes as Kululu looked down at him. He was his own person again. The other Fuyuki was crying on a table just as he predicted. Keroro and Momoka were looking after his every need.

"Please don't be harsh on him. He was just acting like a child," Fuyuki begged Saburo and Natsumi. "He's lonely. I might have done the same. He can never go back to land, ever, and he's got a job that not even the gods wanted. He can only really interact much with people who died at sea."

Saburo frowned. "He tortured Kululu's girlfriend, remember?"

Mois and Kululu nodded. They weren't as easily forgiving. Giroro was still mad about Natsumi's death, but Natsumi approached her brother.

"I... I just didn't want to be alone," said Other Fuyuki. "I thought power could get me everything I want. But it can't. I'll be stuck at the sea forever. But I guess the other Fuyuki taught me that I have to accept these things. I'm the god of those who died at sea and I can't change that." He tried to breathe.

Natsumi hugged him. "I knew deep down you had really died. But I didn't know anything like this would happen," she whispered. "I forgive you despite everything you did. After all, we're family."

Fuyuki frowned. "But I'll have to go to my realm again. And I'll be alone. Nobody will let me kill anyone. I planned so hard. I'll lose all my friends... Keroro will appoint Tamama to be his first mate instead of me, Momoka will going back to land... and you have others, too."

"Loving others doesn't make my love for you less. And I'm sure that idiot of a pirate agrees," Natsumi smiled.

Keroro nodded.

"It doesn't?" Tamama looked shocked. Well, there went his reason for jealousy.

"But I see what you were doing. You really are a child," Natsumi sighed. "You didn't want power. You had a cry for attention, for help." She ruffled Fuyuki's hair. "And I'll help you."

"You'll die for me?" Fuyuki asked hopefully.

Natsumi frowned. "No. But I'll always be with you in your heart. I'll die at sea eventually; after all, I'm always at sea. I'm a pirate and I still haven't given up my dream of being the number one Pirate Lord." She gave a glare to Saburo. When they were done with this, their rivalry would continue.

Fuyuki smiled. So Natsumi would stay with him after all.

"The sea is my home. So we'll always be together." Natsumi smiled. She'd follow her dreams and Fuyuki would follow his job, and eventually their paths would converge again.

Keroro cleared his throat. "I won't leave you, Fuyuki. We can sail to your home and I can live there and we can play with action figures. After all, I'm getting kind of bored of being a pirate and the silver-haired lady took her boat back." Keroro cleared his throat. "So I'll come with you. And you won't be alone. We're best friends, right?"

"But what about me?" Tamama cried. "I want to be with Mr. Captain too!"

"You can visit or come with. Whatever you want," Keroro shrugged. "But I think you should adventure more and learn what you really want for your life."

Tamama frowned. He didn't like that.

Fuyuki glanced at Momoka. "But your home is on land, right? And I'm forced to accept that. I can't keep you by my side. I tried that once."

Momoka gave him a sad smile. "My home is on land. And it would be bad for Koyuki if she didn't turn up with me. But... I love you," she admitted.

Fuyuki gasped. He hadn't known that. "I love you too," he confessed.

"I want to be with you. So I'll do what Natsumi and Keroro didn't do. I'll assure that we're together. After I leave and go back to land and deal with politics, I'll go back to sea... and I'll drink some poison and join you in your underworld. Then we can get married or something, and you'll never be alone again. All you had to do was ask about me not leaving, after all," Momoka smiled. Fuyuki hugged her.

His pitiful cry for attention had worked. And it was all because of the other Fuyuki. He had thought he brought him in this dimension to kill him, but perhaps it was to save him and put his life back on track.

* * *

It didn't take Natsumi long to sail off, ready for more adventure. Her and Giroro's quest hadn't ended, and taking Dororo and Koyuki and Momoka with them, they were ready for another hearty battle. The warrior couple was ready to fight and sail the seas. They had toppled a sea god, now they were going on to lesser things, like toppling Keron's government.

"I'm really sorry about bringing you here. I've opened a door to your dimension. When you're ready, you can enter it and go home, to the world you love so much," the other Fuyuki told himself," and the people."

Fuyuki nodded, but he wasn't quite ready. As he watched himself leave with Keroro, he sat down with Saburo, the person who had stayed by his side and supported his every action. The person who had acted like a true friend to him.

"I'm leaving." Fuyuki told him.

"I know. It's a real pity." Saburo sighed, "After all, our world's Fuyuki isn't anything like you. I can't imagine myself becoming as close to him as you. It's you who I developed a friendship with."

Fuyuki smiled. "You should give him a try anyway; I mean, he is kind of me, just someone who went down a different path."

"Am I that different from your world Saburo?" Saburo asked finally. "Did you like me for my own individuality or because I have the same face as a friend from your world?"

Fuyuki took a deep breath. That was a deep question. Both of the Saburos were his friends, and he knew his world's Saburo would protect him just as much. "I can sense that your spirits are both the same, but you grew up in different surroundings. You do similar things, but I like you both for who you are."

"Will you forget me?" Saburo asked. "Was our journey just a small dot in your life? Because it changed mine."

Fuyuki thought about it. Another deep question. "I won't forget you, Saburo. You'll always be my friend."

Saburo gave him a smile. "You're cute. But you aren't a very good liar." He gave him a sad smile. "But I suppose it doesn't matter. You might leave me, but I've got other people in my life now. I'm still the tough, mysterious pirate I previously was and I'm still dedicated to winning the ocean from Natsumi. Kululu and I have made up and he knows the real me... I suppose I've got miles to go before I'm on good terms with Mois. We'll be traveling together on her ship since Kululu still wants to be a pirate with me, so I'll have a chance to make up to her," Saburo smiled. "So thank you. Before meeting you I wanted friends but I also wanted to be distant from people. I thought it... well... I thought it increased my mysteriousness factor, but you proved me wrong."

"I'm glad to have had this adventure with you," Fuyuki smiled. Saburo stood up and lowered his hand, letting Fuyuki take it to help him up.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay?" Saburo told him jokingly.

"Can't. I have to go home with Sarge. Sis. Momoka," he smiled.

"The rich girl?" He had seen her making goo-goo eyes at his world's Fuyuki. She must have won Fuyuki over in that world, too. Saburo gave a small smile. "Good luck then... my friend." He leaned forward, as if he was going to kiss him on the forehead, but then stopped.

Fuyuki wasn't interested. He had Momoka, although he was sure in the other world there was a Saburo that liked Fuyuki, too. After all, it seemed like most of the relationships between their worlds were the same.

Fuyuki had managed to steal Saburo's greatest treasure - his heart. But he wasn't sad, giving it away. He would never meet someone like Fuyuki but he was sure to meet other great people. Love could expand and he was happy to go on another adventure.

"Bye, Saburo!" Fuyuki waved.

And he was gone through the portal, a satisfying good-bye to them.

 _I bet Kululu's eye wouldn't have even worked if Fuyuki had gone through the spell. After all, it's me who's regretted every single action I've made,_ Saburo realized. _I'm filled with regret. But freeing Fuyuki... I'm happier now._

 _Have fun at home._

* * *

Fuyuki tumbled into the alley. Kululu, Keroro, Saburo, Natsumi and Momoka were waiting for him.

"I knew the other dimension was sending signals from here. Ku," Kululu smiled. He was right once again.

"Fuyuki! You're alive!" Natsumi hugged her brother, "What happened to you?"

"You could have been in danger, Fuyuki!" Saburo frowned. "I was trying everything to save you, but I had closed the portals for good between dimensions. How did you get into a closed portal?"

Momoka just hugged his arm. "The smartest scientists in the world were looking for you. It's been weeks."

"Fuuuuuuuyyuki!" Keroro just cried and hurled himself onto his friend, knocking off Momoka and Natsumi. Apparently he got to hug Fuyuki more than they did.

"I was in this strange world, and you were there, and you were there." Fuyuki started wildly pointing.

"Ku, ku, ku. Hush up for a second about your weird adventure." Kululu shut him up and listened to his heartbeat. "You seem fine. I'm monitoring for radiation now from going through that portal."

"So you were all worried for me?" Fuyuki asked.

Natsumi nodded. "We all looked so hard for you. Saburo saw you fall into a portal... I'm just so glad you didn't disappear for good. I was so worried."

Fuyuki smiled. "I would never leave you guys. I was going to come home eventually. I just needed to help someone that needed me." The other him was the one who needed him, but he was glad his friends had cared so much about him.

He smiled at all the faces he cared so much about. He was glad to be home finally.

And really, the adventure _was_ just a dot in his life. Pirates weren't even that cool to him. And he was so happy to be on land and not on a rocking ship anymore.

"Oh, Fuyuki, how'd your arms get so strong?" Momoka smiled, seeing the small muscles on his arms from all that rowing.

"Terrible, terrible manual labor. I'm getting rid of these muscles by spending the next weeks on the computer. Yay!" Fuyuki smiled.

"That's our Fuyuki," Keroro grinned.

And Fuyuki was happy. His adventure was no more than a memory. He knew all his friends from the other world had other adventures to go through, Natsumi had a lot to deal with on her own, Saburo too. But it was all just a memory in the sea.

And Fuyuki was no longer on the sea. It was done.

* * *

 **Okay, so I've finally finished this story. My quarter in school is almost over so I've got to pick out another project to do, so I'm going to describe you some things and as readers I want you to suggest and review this chapter what sounds good or bad, or suggest something completely different.**

 **First idea is a sort of nightmare grotesque AU, the keronians are kept the same but it takes place during the first parts of the invasion of Pekopon. The humans personalities will take on a darker tone and be deconstructed and it will be a sort of what if the human race was evil and knew about aliens and were luring them to their planet for their own purposes.**

 **Second up is not an AU, this isn't too detailed and planned out but it's kind of death fic-y? It involves the keronians leaving for five or seven years because their invasion has ended and then coming back because Pekopon has been infected with a virus and they want to evacuate their pekoponian friends even though it might put the universe at risk. Pekopon really is poisoning the universe and all the alien species could die, but the person they had assumed would help them, Angol Mois, is with the other angolians that Pekopon and Keron should pay for their crimes of not letting her destroy the planet. So it's Angol vs Keron with viruses in the background.**

 **Another one which is also not an AU would probably be really long and not planned out very much. It's involving the vipers attacking and the planet stuck in a time loop for a month as everything re-sets and they have to deal with the whole attack again.**

 **Okay, some AUs that I haven't plotted out yet, but I'm thinking if I did they'd be around 10 chapters in length (Around the same amount as Bloody Fever because that was easy and fun)**

 **Elemental Gods AU/sort of mythology thing. Kind of like this one but short. Tell me if you're interested.**

 **Maybe something involving fairies/seelie court? Not planned out in the slightest. AU.**

 **A witch AU. Inspired a bit by the cool miraculous ladybug witch AU. Witch AU's are fun.**

 **Um...I think that's all I got at the moment for plans. Tell me which interest you or suggestions of what you think I should write? What do you think I should work on?**

 **Please review. I am begging you.**


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